September 23, 1994: Future Oklahoma City Bomber Buys Fertilizer for Bomb

Timothy McVeigh (see November 1991 - Summer 1992, February - July 1994, September 12, 1994 and After, and September 13, 1994 and After), developing plans to bomb a federal building in Oklahoma City (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995), buys 10 bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer from the Mid-Kansas Cooperative in McPherson, Kansas, about 70 miles west of Herington, where McVeigh has rented a storage locker (see September 22, 1994). The Mid-Kansas Coop is the largest farm supply and grain cooperative in Kansas, and has branch locations in 19 cities and towns. The ammonium nitrate can be mixed with other materials to create a powerful explosive; the brown and white bags are clearly marked “Warning” and “Explosives.” [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996; Mickolus and Simmons, 6/1997, pp. 810; Serrano, 1998, pp. 92; Douglas O. Linder, 2001] Presumably McVeigh and his partner Terry Nichols are keeping the fertilizer in the Herington storage locker (see September 22, 1994).