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On Sunday (Monday NZT), police officers provided heartbreaking details on how to respond to a Christmas morning explosion in downtown Nashville, sometimes drowning in reliving the moments that led to the explosion and offering gratitude that they were still alive. .
“This will unite us forever, for the rest of my life,” Officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss from the blast, told a news conference. “Christmas will never be the same again.”
Meanwhile, Nashville Metropolitan Police spokesman Don Aaron told The Associated Press that Anthony Q. Warner, 63, of Tennessee, was under investigation in connection with the blast.
He did not elaborate. However, Warner had experience with electronics and alarms, according to public records.
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The five responding officers gave their accounts of what happened to journalists as investigators continued to undermine the motive for the attack on a recreational vehicle that exploded on a mostly deserted street just before issuing a recorded warning advising those nearby to evacuate.
Mark Humphrey / AP
Nashville Police Chief John Drake with Officers Michael Sipos and Richard Luellen (right).
“I only see orange and then I hear a loud boom. As I stumble, I tell myself to stay up and alive, ”Wells said, sometimes crying and repeating that he believed he had heard God tell him to leave moments before the explosion.
Officer Amanda Topping said she initially parked her police car next to the motorhome while answering the call before moving it once they heard the recording. Topping said he called his wife to let her know “things were really weird” as he helped guide people away from the motorhome.
That’s when he heard the RV ad change from a warning to replaying the 1964 hit. City center by Petula Clark moments later the explosion hit.
“I felt the heat waves, but I lost it and started running towards (Wells),” Topping said. “I’ve never held someone so tightly in my life.”
Uncredited / AP
Officer Amanda Topping says she initially parked her police car next to the motorhome while answering the call before moving it once they heard the recording.
Officer Brenna Hosey said she and her colleagues knocked on six or seven doors on nearby apartments to warn people to evacuate. In particular, he remembered knocking on a door where it was opened by a surprised mother of four.
“I don’t have children, but I have cousins and nieces, little people that I love,” Hosey said, adding that she had to beg the family to leave the building as quickly as possible.
The attack, which damaged an AT&T building, has continued to wreak havoc on cell phone service and police and hospital communications in several southern states as the company worked to restore service.
Meanwhile, investigators from multiple federal and local law enforcement agencies arrived at a home in Antioch, in suburban Nashville, on Saturday (local time) after receiving information relevant to the investigation, said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack.
Mark Humphrey / AP
FBI and ATF agents search the basement of a house in suburban Nashville.
Another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said investigators view a person associated with the property as a person of interest. They did not identify the person.
Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and backyard. A Google Maps image captured in May 2019 showed an RV similar to the one that exploded parked in the backyard. He was not on the property Saturday, according to an AP reporter at the scene.
There were other signs of progress in the investigation, as the FBI revealed that it was looking at several people who could be related to her. Authorities also said no additional explosive devices have been found, indicating there is no active threat to the area. Investigators have received around 500 hints and tips.
“It’s going to take us some time,” Douglas Korneski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Memphis field office, said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. “Our research team is turning every stone” to understand who did this and why.
Mark Humphrey / AP
Investigators continue to examine the scene of the blast, which police believe was intentional.
Investigators said they were working to identify human remains found at the scene. Beyond that, the only known victims were three injured people.
Infrastructure damage, meanwhile, was generally felt as an AT&T headquarters was affected by the blast. Police emergency systems in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, as well as Nashville’s Covid-19 Community Hotline and a handful of hospital systems, remained out of service.
The building had a telephone exchange, with network equipment, but the company has refused to say exactly how many people have been affected.
When asked if the AT&T building could have been a possible target, Korneski said: “We are looking at all the possible motives that could be involved.”
Investigators closed off the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene, an area teeming with honky-tonks, restaurants and shops, as they walked through broken glass and damaged buildings to learn more about the explosion.
Mark Humphrey / AP
A police officer blocks a street while the investigation continues.
AT&T said Sunday it was diverting service to other facilities as the company worked to restore its badly damaged building. The company said in a statement that it was contributing resources to help recover affected voice and data services and expects to have an additional 24 trailers of disaster recovery equipment on site by the end of the day.
The restoration efforts faced several challenges, including a fire that forced their teams to work with safety and structural engineers and drilling access holes to the building to reconnect power.
Ray Neville, T-Mobile’s president of technology, said on Twitter that service outages had affected Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham and Atlanta.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction around the airport, requiring pilots to follow strict procedures until December 30.
