By
The Associated Press
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - From a command center in the federal penitentiary, officials will oversee nearly 400 state, local and federal law enforcement officers during the days leading up to Timothy McVeigh's execution.
The command center will open May 9, a week before McVeigh is scheduled to die by lethal injection for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, which killed 168.
The number of officers in the area will grow as the execution date approaches, Warden Harley Lappin said at the prison yesterday.
Some law enforcement authorities and residents have expressed fear of some kind of terrorist attack when McVeigh is executed May 16.
"At this point in time, we don't have any indication that any organized group is planning anything in support of the incident at Oklahoma City or the execution of Timothy McVeigh," said Robert Reilley, agent in charge of the FBI's Indianapolis office.
Lappin said news organizations are expected to begin setting up on prison property between May 9 and May 11. By May 12, all roads onto prison grounds will be guarded and all vehicles will be checked.
There are currently nearly 200 law enforcement officers in Vigo County. More than 200 additional officers, including FBI agents and federal marshals, will join them, Lappin said. The Bureau of Prisons also will send in more than 150 additional personnel, bringing the total prison staff to about 650.
