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Authorities named Anthony Q Warner as a suspect and said he died in the explosion in Tennessee’s largest city.
Federal, state and local law enforcement was investigating the motive for a bombing that rocked Nashville on Christmas morning on Monday, with evidence pointing to the 63-year-old suspect on a suicide mission that cost him only life.
The FBI Sunday identified the suspect as Anthony Q Warner and said he died in the blast, which injured three people and damaged more than 40 businesses in downtown Nashville, Tennessee’s largest city and the country music capital of the States -United.
Warner’s camper van exploded at dawn on Friday, moments after police, responding to reports of gunfire, noticed it and heard music and an automated message from the vehicle warning of a bomb.
Police rushed to evacuate people in the area, and Warner is the only person known to have died in the blast.
At least three people were injured in the blast, news agencies reported.
Steve Schmoldt, who lived next door to Warner, told CNN the man led a reclusive life. “He lived there for a long time and he kind of stuck to himself… We only knew him through Tony.” He was a sort of hermit.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said local officials believed there must be a link between the bombing, which occurred near an AT&T transmission building on bustling Second Avenue in the city, and the building.
But officials argued it was too early in the investigation to discuss the suspect’s motives.
Council member Freddie O’Connell, whose district includes Second Avenue, said officials were reluctant to speculate on the motive or characterize the bombing as an act of terrorism as it was still unclear if Warner was motivated by an ideology.
“It may be a while before we get close to answering some of these questions,” O’Connell said.
The explosion disrupted mobile, internet and television services in central Tennessee and parts of four other states.
Debris litter the road near the site of an explosion in the Second and Commerce area of ​​Nashville [Elliott Anderson/Tennessean.com/USA Today Network via Reuters]
Investigators searched Warner’s home on Saturday and visited a Nashville real estate agency where he had worked part-time, providing computer consulting services.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called the damage in Nashville “enormous” and said he expected President Donald Trump to comply with his request soon. declare a state of emergency to help the state.
“It was an indescribable explosion and it destroyed businesses all along this downtown block,” Lee said.
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