Federal investigators said the suspect on the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville was killed in the explosion.
FBI investigators said the DNA evidence found at the scene corresponded to Anthony Quinn Warner, who had previously been named as a person of interest.
“Anthony Warner is the man believed to be responsible for this horrible crime,” Nashville Metropolitan Police Chief John Drake told a news conference.
Human remains were discovered amid the wreckage of the explosion, and investigators worked to determine if they belonged to the owner of the trailer. Several police sources informed of the investigation told ABC News that the suspect was identified as Warner from Antioch, Tennessee, a Nashville suburb.
Douglas Korneski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Memphis, told reporters that investigators were able to match up quickly after obtaining DNA from Warner’s home.
Federal agents arrived Saturday at properties in Antioquia connected to Warner to conduct searches authorized by the court, sources told ABC News. A Google Maps Street View image of Warner’s address shows a trailer, which looks similar to the one used in the explosion, in a fenced-in section of the yard.
Korneski said there did not appear to be any other suspects involved in the attack, but the investigation is ongoing.
Authorities believe the RV was parked in front of an AT&T broadcast building at 1:22 am on Friday, but it is still unclear whether the building was targeted. The Tennessee Highway Patrol confirmed that the RV’s VIN was registered with Warner.
Korneski said his team does not know what the reasons alleged by Warner are, but “is aware of certain things online and we are looking into all possible reasons”. He asked anyone who knew Warner or had any information that used the FBI guideline.
“This information will help us determine the suspect’s motives,” he said.
More than 250 FBI employees from at least seven field offices are in Nashville working on the investigation, including special agents, analysts and professionals who are conducting interviews, collecting evidence and coordinating with partner agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and state and local investigators.
The high-risk drama began to unfold around 6 am Friday morning, when police officers who worked the night shift received a call for shots fired inside a building located at 178 Second Avenue North, officials said. .
Nashville law enforcement officers being hailed as heroes for saving lives during a major Christmas morning bombing on Sunday described their quick actions to evacuate buildings as they ran against a scary countdown recording for Petula Clark’s detonation and song “Downtown” coming of a recreational vehicle packed with explosives.
“Right away, they didn’t think about their own lives. They didn’t think about themselves. They thought about the citizens of Nashville and about protecting them, and started knocking on doors,” said Chief Drake, introducing five of the six officers. at a press conference. “If they hadn’t made these efforts, we would be talking about the tragedy of people and lives lost.”
Nashville Metropolitan Police Officers James Luellen, Brenna Hosey, Michael Sipos, Amanda Topping, James Wells and Sergeant. Timothy Miller was described as “heroes” by Drake and the mayor of Nashville, John Cooper.
“I think they can consider what they did just a normal part of their duties. But we in Nashville know that it was extraordinary and exciting to have them in our community, and we need to acknowledge their heroism,” said Cooper, before each police officer reported the bombing that damaged at least 41 buildings, set several vehicles on fire and left a huge crater on Second Avenue North.
Officer Luellen said he was the first to arrive at the scene and started checking the building for shots and asked for the security code to enter. He said that the moment Officer Hosey arrived at the scene to support him, a recorded voice from the trailer parked on the street began to recite an urgent warning.
“The RV started making an announcement somewhere along the lines, don’t quote me exactly, but it’s, ‘There’s a big bomb inside this vehicle. Its main purpose is to evacuate,'” said Luellen. “I wasn’t sure what I heard, so I looked at Officer Hosey just to see if we heard the same thing, and then it started again.”
He said he contacted his supervisor, the sergeant. Miller, who told him to ask all available police to go to the scene and start evacuating the residents.
When officers Topping and Wells started blocking the streets in the area, Luellen, Hosey and Sipos entered an apartment building and started knocking on doors and alerting residents to a possible public safety risk outside. He said residents of about six or seven apartments were told to evacuate through the basement’s back door.
Luellen said that he and his colleagues returned to the RV area to move their patrol cars away and ensure that no other civilians were in danger. He said the curtains in the trailer were drawn and there were no registration plates.
Hosey recalled that the recorded voice coming from RV then started a chilling countdown, saying, “14 minutes to detonate.” She said the warning was followed by Petula Clark’s song, “Downtown”.
Luellen said that while the voice of the trailer counted down from three minutes before the detonation, he spotted a man emerging from a nearby building with his dog. He said that as soon as he shouted for the man to go back inside, the trailer exploded.
“I was knocked to the ground. I got up immediately, fortunately without injury or anything like that. I noticed you in shock with your dog. I checked him, put him in,” said Luellen.
He said he then ran to check on Miller, who was still in his vehicle. He said the explosion caused Miller’s car airbag to fire and the sergeant was cutting it when he opened the door.
Hosey recalled that just before the explosion, she saw a woman with a cart and four children on the street. She said the vision “put my heart in my throat”.
“I am asking if I can help you … she has a cart … and I tell her that there is a serious threat and we need you to go. I am grateful that we were able to get her out of there,” said Hosey.
She said she was thrown forward and dropped on the floor by the explosion.
“I made a call to a loved one to let them know I was okay, and then I ran to the intersection to check on Miller and Luellen to make sure they were okay,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “That’s when I turned on the radio to make sure Wells was fine.”
She said she did not get an immediate response from Wells.
Wells said the explosion caused him to temporarily lose hearing in his left ear, and he did not hear Hosey and other officers talking to him over the radio.
Wells said that when he heard the music coming from the trailer, he feared that the police were being ambushed and started scouring the tops of buildings and garages for an active sniper.
“At that moment it felt real and it looked like there would be some secondary activity. So whenever we left a building, we were sure we were looking around and checking the high areas, just making sure that no one was looking around and looking at us. “said Wells.
He said that just before the explosion, he was returning to the trailer and “I literally hear God tell me to turn and go to see Topping, who was alone.”
“To me, it felt like I just took three steps and then the music stopped, and while I’m going back to Topping now, I just see orange and then I hear a big bang,” said Wells.
He said the explosion made him stumble.
“I was saying to myself, ‘Stand up, stay alive,'” said Wells. “I just run and I’m running towards Topping to make sure she is okay. We kind of met in the middle and just grabbed and checked on each other.”
He said he yelled at Topping to get her gun, in case they were under fire.
“It was just weird,” said Wells. “It looked like something out of a movie.”
Topping added that when he grabbed Wells: “I’ve never held someone so tightly.” She said that hearing Wells’ voice in that chaotic moment “was what made me see my kids at Christmas”.