[ad_1]
(CNN) – An explosion rocked downtown Nashville, Tennessee’s capital, on Christmas morning, injuring at least three people and damaging dozens of buildings, in what is believed to be a “deliberate” act.
According to police, Nashville Metro Police Department officers were responding to a shooting call around 5:30 a.m. Friday when they found an RV parked in front of the AT&T dispatch building on the city’s Second Avenue.
Nashville Metropolitan Police Chief John Drake told a news conference Friday that the RV was displaying a recorded message indicating a bomb would explode in 15 minutes.
Police added that officers did not see any immediate evidence of the shooting, but called the dangerous devices unit and began evacuating residents of the neighborhood.
Police spokesman Don Aaron said the bomb squad was responding to the call when the vehicle exploded at 6:30 a.m.
He continued: “We believe this was a deliberate act. There has been significant damage to the infrastructure there.”
Three people were taken from the crash site to hospitals, but none of them were in critical condition, according to Nashville Fire Unit spokesman Joseph Pleasant.
Aaron said the force of the blast knocked down an officer and caused another hearing loss, hopefully temporary. However, none of the officers was seriously injured.
The FBI told CNN that its Memphis field office is handling the investigation.
There were no known reliable threats in the Nashville area to indicate an imminent attack on or before Christmas, a federal law enforcement source told CNN.
A second law enforcement source indicated that federal authorities are unaware of any notable national speech by known extremist groups indicating any plans to launch attacks during the holidays.
Acting United States Attorney General Jeff Rosen was informed of the incident early this morning, according to his spokesman, “and ordered to make all the resources of the Department of Justice available to assist in the investigation.”
The White House said President Donald Trump was also aware of the incident and would receive “regular updates.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said in a statement on Twitter that the state “will provide all necessary resources” to determine the cause of the explosion.
Everything in the street was on fire
Witness Buck McCoy told CNN that the explosion occurred right in front of his home, smashing his windows.
He added: “Everything on the street was set on fire … There were three cars on fire.”
McCoy said he was awakened by what he believed to be gunshots about 10 minutes before the explosion. He said he got up and looked out the window, but went back to bed when he saw nothing.
When asked if the noise he heard could have been anything other than gunshots, McCoy said he believed it was, saying he had a gun and firing, so he is aware of the sound of gunfire.
Aaron said investigators are running a secondary search of downtown buildings, especially those on Second Avenue, to make sure no one needs help.
Before the explosion, officers would go from house to house or apartment to apartment informing residents of the situation. He said an officer redirected a man who was walking a dog on Second Avenue before the rover exploded.
He stressed that officials do not know if someone was inside the car when the explosion occurred and that the police were not aware of any other attempted attack.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper told CNN that dozens of buildings have been damaged, most of them due to exploding glass. The mayor noted that some buildings have been evacuated, but he does not know the number of buildings or the number of people affected.
“Right now, there is a lot of damaged glass on Second Avenue,” he said.
The street is on the edge of the Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism District in a historic part of town.
John Cooper told CNN’s WSMV that the explosion “happened when no one was around.”
He said: “Fortunately, there are not many people.”
WTVF footage showed smoke billowing from a street fire, with debris strewn across the area.
Witness Buck McCoy told CNN that when he looked outside after the blast, he found that trees had fallen and there was broken glass everywhere. And he saw people come out of their apartments with their animals. He said firefighters told him to stay as far away from the area as possible.
“There is nothing left on Second Avenue,” he concluded.
