TYLER, Texas -- An east Texas concert featuring rock 'n' roller Ozzy Osbourne was canceled Wednesday because of bomb threats.
'We gathered information that some dynamite was going to be thrown from passing cars at these innocent people,' said Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith.
Osbourne, who gained fame for stage antics such as biting the head off a bat and was once arrested for urinating on the Alamo, was to appear at the Oil Palace Saturday.
His Texas tour stopped Wednesday in Corpus Christi, where a protest by the People's Baptist Church earlier failed to convince City Council to ban the concert.
Bobby Joe Manziel, owner of the Oil Palace, where the Tyler concert was scheduled, said he canceled the concert because he feared innocent concert-goers would be injured.
'We do not wish to present an event which would be a divisive influence in the Texas community, nor do we want to present an event which would provide an opportunity for public confrontation between well-meaning citizens,' he said.
Smith said his office also had received information about possible pickets at the concert.
Chief Deputy Johnny Beddingfield said he did not know who made the threats. Police and sheriff officials were investigating.
'We can't name a certain group or individual to it because of the way they passed the word (of the threats),' said Beddingfield. 'They stay anonymous and call as a group, but who do you arrest as a group?'
Smith said he sent a letter to Osbourne warning him of the threats and suggested that if the heavy metal rocker continued with the concert, he should increase security.
An Osbourne concert in the west Texas city of Lubbock also was canceled, but due to poor advance ticket sales.
