The 1986 Charleston, Virginia bombings were a series of terrorist bombings executed against the city of Charleston, Virginia on September 9, 1986, beginning at 9:02 a.m. EDT. Approximately eight bombs were detonated: first was a car bomb outside the Kanawha County Courthouse, killing 16, the second was another car bomb rammed into a student dorm building at Marshall University that killed 18, third was a bomb planted on the boiler at Watts Elementary School, killing ten (seven students and three teachers), the fourth was a high-explosive shrapnel bomb that killed 33 at the Charleston Town Center. Fifth was a car bomb in the basement of the recently completed Laidley Tower that killed nine, while the sixth and seventh were both detonated in an empty side alley at the base of the Bank One Ce