Timothy James McVeigh ( April 23 , 1968 -- June 11 , 2001 ) was a United States Army veteran and security guard who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City . Timothy James McVeigh ( April 23 , 1968 â `` June 11 , 2001 ) was a former member of the U.S. Army who became infamous for detonating a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19 , 1995 .