Oklahoma City Bombing

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, was the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in U.S. history, resulting in the deaths of 168 people.

Timothy McVeigh parked a rented truck packed with nearly 5,000 pounds of explosives in front of the Murrah Building. Among the victims were 19 children—most of whom were in the building’s daycare center.

McVeigh targeted the Murrah building largely because it was full of U.S. government workers. Fourteen federal agencies had offices there, and 98 of the victims worked for the federal government.

In a matter of seconds, the blast destroyed most of the nine-story federal building, incinerated nearby vehicles, and damaged or destroyed more than 300 other buildings.

By mid-afternoon on the day of the bombing, the FBI had established a command center near the blast site to coordinate the investigation.

FBI photographers took pictures, bomb techs looked for secondary explosives, SWAT provided security, evidence technicians fanned out looking for evidence, and agents interviewed witnesses and began to track down information and send leads to other FBI offices.

At FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., officials began diverting resources to help the 120 special agents based in Oklahoma City.

Bob Ricks (left) was the special agent in charge of the Oklahoma City Field Office in 1995. Former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh (right) visited Oklahoma City after the bombing. Shortly after the bombing, as Ricks recalled in 2015, "All I could do is think to myself, ‘Lord this was overwhelming, and where do you start?’ And I basically said a prayer. ‘Obviously I can’t make it right, but hopefully we can find justice in this process.’”

Immediately after the explosion, FBI personnel were dispatched to the Murrah building to begin the painstaking process of collecting evidence, even as firemen and other first responders worked to recover victims and stabilize the area.

Evidence Response Team personnel, pictured, searched debris. Through the OKBOMB Task Force, investigators conducted more than 28,000 interviews, followed more than 43,450 investigative leads, and collected nearly 3.5 tons of evidence.

Over 32 months, the OKBOMB Task Force also searched 1 billion records in 26 databases and reviewed more than 13.2 million hotel registration records, 3.1 million Ryder truck rental records, and 682,000 airline reservation records.

The rear axle from the truck bomb was found approximately 575 feet from the bomb crater.

The axle from the truck bomb contained an identifying number that was traced back to the Ryder truck McVeigh rented in Kansas.

On April 20, 1995, the FBI released a sketch of the man who rented the truck. The owner of the Dreamland Motel in Junction City, Kansas, recognized him as a guest registered as Timothy McVeigh. A search of police records showed that McVeigh was in the Noble County jail in Perry, Oklahoma.

A state trooper had stopped McVeigh shortly after the bombing because his car was missing a license plate. He arrested McVeigh for carrying a concealed firearm, and McVeigh was still in custody when the FBI called.

In August 1995, McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols were charged with 11 federal crimes, including eight counts of first-degree murder of federal law enforcement officers. A federal jury found McVeigh guilty of all counts on June 2, 1997. McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001.

A different jury found Nichols guilty of conspiracy and eight counts of manslaughter on December 23, 1997. He was sentenced to life in prison. Michael Fortier, an Army friend with whom McVeigh shared his plans, testified against McVeigh and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for failing to report the planned attack and for lying to the FBI.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum was dedicated on April 19, 2000, five years to the day after the bombing. The facade of the building still shows scars from the explosion.

At the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum's outdoor memorial area—which spans the footprint of the original Murrah Building—there is a chair for each of the bombing's 168 victims.

Between the outdoor memorial and museum building stands the Survivor Tree, which survived the blast and subsequent fires and symbolizes the notion that good will always triumph over evil.

“The memorial is really built to remember those who were killed and those who survived and those who were changed forever,” said Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. “One of our missions was to build a place that would teach the moral of the story and the tenderness of the response.” The memorial includes a 9:01 Gate and the 9:03 Gate, forever framing the moment of destruction at 9:02 a.m.

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