Officials have yet to say how or why the RV exploded. But police did not provide a timeline behind the blast, along with an account of witnesses, information showing an unusual time of the incident.
“It was done when clearly no one was going around,” said Nashville Mayor John Cooper.
Here is what we know about what happened in Nashville leading to the explosion.
A few hours later, Betsy Williams said she woke up with things like a quick shoot.
“It felt like an automatic weapon,” he said, “differentiating.”
About 5-10 minutes later, he heard the sound again, so he called 911. Minutes later, he heard a third gunshot, so he called 911 again.
Buck McCoy said he, too, was awakened by what he thought was a shooting. He nodded and looked out the window, he said, but when nothing appeared he went back to bed.
Police said they were called to the scene after reports of a shooting around 5:30 p.m.
Countdown
Police said the RV was repeatedly transmitting a message warning of an explosion within 15 minutes.
“Empty now,” a computerized, female voice coming from the vehicle, according to Williams.
“The vehicle will explode in 15 minutes,” the voice said, according to Williams. After repeating the message for a minute, he said the vehicle would explode in 14 minutes. The countdown was on.
“When the time started, we just went, ‘Oh show * t,'” he said. “We need to get out of here.”
Williams, still in his pajamas, and his family grabbed his cat and rushed to his car to leave the area immediately. He said he saw a police cordon outside 2nd Avenue to prevent anyone from going down.
David Malloy was walking his dog, a black German shepherd named DJ, when he saw police cars on every corner.
Then he heard a voice that thought he was coming from a police car, telling people to “evacuate” and “please stand back.”
Explosion
As the countdown neared its end, the message emanating from the RV changed, according to surveillance video taken from a house across the street.
“If you can hear this message, empty now,” the voice said at about 6:30 a.m., “If you can hear this message, empty now.”
Then a bang and a blinding flash.
Malloy, with his dog, said he asked an officer if he would evacuate them as soon as he saw the explosion.
“It was just this big fireball explosion,” he said. “I don’t know what it will make.”
Williams and his family saw explosives as they drove down 2nd Avenue.
“Just everything, I mean, everything shook. It was an absolute explosion,” he said.
When Buck McCoy looked outside, he saw trees everywhere and smashed broken glass in the street.
“Everything on the street was on fire,” he said. “There were three cars that were completely surrounded.”
After this
Mayor John Cooper said Friday that the blast was caused by a “deliberate bomb” intended to cause chaos.
Three people were rushed to hospital from the scene, but none of them are in critical condition, Nashville Fire PIO Joseph Pleasant said. Police said one officer was knocked down by the force of the blast and another lost his hearing, but no officer was seriously injured.
Police Chief John Drake said investigators found tissue near the site of the blast that may have been human remains.
The blast killed at least one business and partially destroyed a building, officials said. Concerned about the structural integrity of the affected buildings, the city cordoned off the area and would not allow anyone to enter until Sunday afternoon.
“It will be a while before 2G Ave returns to normal,” said Nashville Mayor John Cooper.
McCoy, a resident of the area where the RV exploded, said his window was blown off and water started pouring from the roof. Her face, arms and legs were itchy, but she’s fine.
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