FBI at home of possible person of interest in Nashville bomb

Federal agents gathered Saturday at the home of a possible person of interest in the blast that rocked downtown Nashville as investigators searched for hundreds of clues and leads in the blast that pulverized apples on Christmas morning and damaged dozens of buildings.

More than 24 hours after the explosion, a motive remained elusive as investigators worked around the clock to resolve unanswered questions about an RV that exploded on a mostly deserted street on a quiet holiday morning and was preceded by a recorded warning advising those nearby to evacuate. The attack, which damaged an AT&T building, continued to wreak havoc on cell phone service and police and hospital communications in several southern states on Saturday.

Investigators from various federal and local law enforcement agencies were at a home in Antioch, in the suburbs of Nashville, after receiving information relevant to the investigation, said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack. 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 regard a person associated with the property as a person of interest. The house is said to belong to Anothony Quinn Warner.

Federal agents could be seen looking around the property, searching the home and backyard. An image from Google Maps showed a similar RV parked in the backyard when the photo was taken in May 2019; An AP reporter at the scene did not see the vehicle on the property late Saturday afternoon.

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 going through every stone” to understand who did this and why.

Separately, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a report Saturday that tissue samples found at the scene were determined to be human remains. Authorities said they were working vigorously to identify who the remains belong to.

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 declined 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 full of honky-tonks, restaurants and shops, as they walked through broken glass and damaged buildings to learn more about the blast.

Mayor John Cooper imposed a downtown curfew through Sunday through an executive order limiting public access to the area. More than 40 buildings were affected.

AT&T said restoration efforts face several challenges, including a fire that “reignited overnight and led to the evacuation of the building.” This has forced his teams to work with safety and structural engineers and to drill access holes to the building to reconnect power.

“Our teams continue to work around the clock on recovery efforts from yesterday morning’s explosion in Nashville,” the company said in a statement Saturday. “We have two portable mobile sites operating in downtown Nashville with numerous additional portable sites being rolled out in the Nashville area and region.”

Ray Neville, T-Mobile’s president of technology, said on Twitter that the service disruptions affected Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham and Atlanta. “We continue to see service disruptions in these areas after yesterday’s explosion. Restoration efforts continue 24 hours a day and we will keep you posted on progress,” he said in a tweet on Saturday.

The outages had even briefly grounded flights at Nashville International Airport, but service continued normally as of Saturday. Since then, the Federal Aviation Association has issued a temporary flight restriction around the airport, requiring pilots to follow strict procedures until December 30.

According to Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake, police officers responded to a report of gunfire on Friday when they encountered the motorcade with a recorded warning that a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes. Police evacuated nearby buildings and called the bomb squad. The RV exploded shortly after.

– AP