A Christmas morning explosion in downtown Nashville that injured at least three people and damaged dozens of buildings likely was an intentional act, authorities said.
Metro Nashville Police Department officers were responding to a call of shots fired around 5:30 a.m. CT Friday when they found a motor home parked in front of an AT&T transmission building at 166 2nd Avenue North.
A recorded message that indicated a bomb would explode in 15 minutes was heard coming from the RV, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during a news conference.
Nashville Vice Mayor Jim Shulman told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that a female voice was speaking in the warning message played from the RV before the explosion.
“There were a number of people who did evacuate, and then we know of some people, it didn’t go off when the message said it would and so people started coming back in, and then it went off,” he explained.
The RV played an audio warning before the explosion at 6:30 am.
Human remains were found in the vicinity. It’s not known how the remains are tied to the explosion.
The warning and the moment the explosive device went off can be observed in this clip:
BREAKING: This is the RV that exploded on 2nd Ave N this morning. It arrived on 2nd Ave at 1:22 a.m. Have you seen this vehicle in our area or do you have information about it? Please contact us via Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 or online via https://t.co/dVGS7o0m4v. @ATFHQ pic.twitter.com/JNx9sDinAH
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) December 25, 2020
The police bravely warned people, saving untold numbers of people from injury or death. This entire episode makes no sense at all.
BREAKING: Nashville police say officers saw suspicious RV and swept apartments door-to-door before blast occurred, likely saving lives. Officers were “blown to the ground” & at least one suffered hearing loss. pic.twitter.com/SbzKZ1vooS
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 25, 2020
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