Anthony Warner was Christmas Day ‘bomber’ in Nashville and likely died in explosion, authorities say
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran recognized Anthony Q. Warner on Sunday because the bomber in a Christmas Day explosion that rocked downtown Nashville.
Police Chief John Drake had recognized Warner, 63, as a person of interest in the case. He is believed to have died in the explosion.
DNA discovered on the scene was matched to samples taken at one other location searched by investigators, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch confirmed.
Investigators mentioned they don’t imagine there was anybody else concerned. Authorities reviewed hours of surveillance footage and they say they solely noticed Warner.
“Anthony Warner is the bomber. He was present when the bomb went off, and he perished in the bombing,” Cochran mentioned.
A motive in the bombing has not been launched and continues to be beneath investigation, in line with FBI Special Agent for Public Affairs Doug Korneski.
The varieties of explosives used in the bombing had been nonetheless beneath investigation, authorities mentioned. The FBI mentioned Warner wasn’t on authorities’ radar earlier than Friday’s explosion and declined to deem the explosion an act of terrorism.
Authorities are asking individuals who knew Warner to contact them to allow them to doubtlessly acquire an understanding for his motive.
“These answers won’t come quickly and will still require a lot of our team’s effort,” Korneski mentioned. “None of those answers will ever be enough for those who have been affected by this event. We still have work to do.”
Sunday, cops who responded to a report of pictures fired moments earlier than the blast recalled the chaos when a leisure car blew up on Second Avenue, injuring three folks and damaging greater than 40 companies.
Officer James Wells, who suffered some listening to loss, tearfully mentioned at a information convention that he believed he heard God inform him to stroll away moments earlier than he noticed a flash of orange and heard a loud growth.
“As I’m stumbling around, I just tell myself to stay on my feet and to stay alive,” Wells mentioned. “Christmas will never be the same.”
The explosion was a deliberate bombing and “feels like” it had a connection to the AT&T constructing severely broken in the blast, Mayor John Cooper mentioned Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Cooper cited “a lot of momentum behind the investigation” and mentioned he expects “a lot of questions to be answered relatively soon.” No motive for the assault had been decided.
FBI brokers searched a house in Antioch and visited an actual property workplace in Nashville in reference to the bombing. An FBI spokesman who spoke on situation of anonymity confirmed to The Tennessean, a part of the USA TODAY Network, that Warner lived on the residence.
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Neighbors advised The Tennessean that an RV just like the one in the explosion was parked at the home throughout the previous two weeks.
FBI Special Agent Jason Pack mentioned brokers visited Fridrich & Clark Realty’s Green Hills workplace. Owner Steve Fridrich mentioned the corporate reported to the FBI that Warner had labored for the corporate.
“We are one of many almost 500 individuals who to this point have contacted them with suggestions,” Fridrich mentioned.
Warner was a longtime space resident who held a number of IT jobs, together with one as an unbiased pc technician with Fridrich & Clark, and public data present he had in depth expertise with electronics and alarm programs. Warner had been embroiled in legal battles over real estate with family members in recent years.
Steve Schmoldt and his wife lived next to Warner for more than two decades. Schmoldt described his neighbor as friendly, someone with whom he would make brief small talk. They never discussed politics or religion, and Warner never gave any indication of any closely held ideology, Schmoldt said.
“I can tell you as far as politics, he never had any yard signs or flags in his window or anything like that,” Schmoldt mentioned. “If he did have any political beliefs he kept, that was something he kept to himself.”
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Nashville police responded to a report of pictures fired earlier than 6 a.m. Friday, discovering a suspicious RV parked outdoors the AT&T constructing. Officers and witnesses heard a broadcast coming from the RV giving a dire warning: “Evacuate now. There is a bomb. A bomb is in this car and will explode.”
Adding to the weird sequence of occasions: Amid the evacuation efforts, Officer James Luellen mentioned he heard a song playing from the RV. An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recognized the tune as “Downtown” by Petula Clark, a chart-topping megahit in 1965.
The lyrics, about going to the city to seek refuge from sadness, echoed down Second Avenue before the blast: “The lights are a lot brighter there.”
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Damage to the AT&T building was so severe that police emergency programs in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama remained out of service all day.
AT&T said the outage continued to affect 911 operations and residential service Sunday, though the company said coverage was improving. The “vital injury” from the blast, AT&T reported in a statement, included elevators, beams and the building’s facade.
The destruction unfold throughout a number of blocks, and proof is strewn amid the rubble and shattered glass. Cochran mentioned the expansive particles area presented a challenge to bomb technicians, a “large jigsaw puzzle created by a bomb that throws items of proof throughout a number of metropolis blocks.”
More than 500 citizen suggestions drove the investigation, and greater than 250 FBI brokers and employees collaborated on the case, Cochran mentioned.
Authorities gave few particulars in regards to the individual of curiosity, the search in Antioch or the evaluation of the sprawling Second Avenue crime scene. There had been no manhunts or bulletins a few suspect. Cooper and Drake urged residents to steer clear of downtown whereas the investigation continues.
“I’m very thankful for the quick thinking and courageous actions of our brave police officers who saved many lives,” Cooper mentioned. “To all of Nashville’s first responders, thank you for your service that day and every day.”
Contributing: Yihyun Jeong, Brinley Hineman, Natalie Allison and Adam Tamburin, Nashville Tennessean; The Associated Press
This article initially appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville explosion: Anthony Warner identified as Christmas ‘bomber’
