On April 19, 1995, a domestic terrorist bombing destroyed much of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 684 others. Anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh, aided by Terry Nichols, used a rented truck carrying a powerful homemade bomb after months of preparation and chose the site because it housed several federal agencies. The blast devastated the building, damaged hundreds of others, and triggered a massive rescue effort. Investigators rapidly tied the attack to McVeigh and Nichols, who were convicted in 1997. The bombing reshaped federal security and remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in United States history.