Thirty years ago today, Oklahoma City, and the United States, were changed forever.
A bomb was detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Building in downtown Oklahoma City, leaving more than 160 people dead, hundreds injured and countless lives altered.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Oklahoma City bombing, those responsible, those who were killed and the investigation that brought the perpetrators to justice.
What year was the Oklahoma City bombing? Who was the bomber?
Timothy McVeigh, a veteran of the Gulf War and a sympathizer with the U.S. militia movement, planned and carried out the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. McVeigh detonated the Ryder rental truck full of explosives that he parked in front of the building.
Terry Nichols, a fellow veteran who met McVeigh during their time in the U.S. Army, assisted in the planning and preparation of the bombing.
Oklahoma City bombing defendants Terry Nichols (L), shown on May 10, 1995, and Timothy McVeigh (R), shown on April 10, 1995. Nichols, one of the main conspirators, lived in Decker, Michigan, a small rural community in Sanilac County. During Nichols’ trial, prosecutors presented evidence that he stored explosive materials at his Decker home and that he and McVeigh had meetings there leading up to the bombing.
In a federal case, McVeigh received the death sentence for his role in the bombing and the deaths of eight federal agents. He was executed by lethal injection in 2001. Nichols was sentenced in the federal case to life in prison without the possibility of release.
Nichols was also tried by the State of Oklahoma for the loss of the others − 160 men, women and children, and one unborn baby. Nichols was sentenced in 2004 to 161 life sentences without the possibility of parole.
More: Here’s what happened to the OKC bomber, his accomplice and others in the 30 years since the attack
How many people died in the Oklahoma City bombing?
An aerial photograph shows the damage to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, surrounded by search and rescue team vehicles and equipment, April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City, Okla.
The bombing resulted in the deaths of 168 people.
How many children died in the Oklahoma City bombing?
Nineteen children, plus an unborn baby, were killed in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Fifteen of the children killed were attendees of America’s Kids day care center, while four others were elsewhere in the building.
A photo of one of the children, one-year-old Baylee Almon, being carried out by a firefighter became a national symbol of the bombing and the devastation it wrought.
How many survived the Oklahoma City bombing?
More than 600 people survived the bombing of the Murrah Building, according to the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum. The blast injured more than 500 people in the Murrah Building and surrounding buildings.
More: The children of the Oklahoma City bombing remain symbols of the city’s growth
What led up to the Oklahoma City bombing? What to know about Waco, Ruby Ridge
While McVeigh began developing his anti-government stance beforehand, the Ruby Ridge standoff of 1992 and the 1993 Waco siege solidified his view that the U.S. government wanted to disarm the public and take away people’s Second Amendment rights, according to History.com.
In August of 1992, U.S. marshals attempted to apprehend Randy Weaver, who hadn’t shown up for his trial on weapons charges. The standoff and 11-day siege left Weaver’s 14-year-old son, a U.S. Marshal and Weaver’s wife, Vicki, dead.
Then in 1993, when the 51-day Waco siege ended with a fire that left 75 members of the Branch Davidian religious sect dead, including 25 children, McVeigh reacted even more strongly. And he wasn’t the only one — these two events fueled anger within the American militia movement and other far-right groups.
McVeigh chose to bomb the Murrah Building on the two-year anniversary of the fire at Waco, and before his execution in 2001 he said he intended the bombing as retribution for the deaths at Ruby Ridge and Waco, according to History.com.
When was Timothy McVeigh arrested?
McVeigh was arrested just 90 minutes after the bombing by an Oklahoma State Trooper who noticed a missing license plate on his yellow Mercury Marquis. The trooper arrested McVeigh for having a concealed weapon.
How did the FBI solve the OKC bombing?
It wasn’t until days after McVeigh’s arrest that he was connected to the bombing. When the rear axle of the Ryder truck which held the bomb was found under the rubble, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation tracked the VIN number to a body shop in Junction City, Kansas.
After coming up with a composite image of the man who rented it and asking around town, agents determined his name was Timothy McVeigh. Traces of the same chemicals used in the explosion were found on his clothes, and agents found a business card on which he had scribbled “TNT @ $5/stick, need more.”
After all was said and done, the FBI investigation was one of the most exhaustive in its history. The Bureau conducted more than 28,000 interviews, followed some 43,000 investigative leads, collected three-and-a-half tons of evidence and reviewed nearly a billion pieces of information.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC bombing details to know: How many were killed? How was McVeigh caught?