Authorities have not yet said how or why the RV exploded. But the police provided a timetable for what led to the explosion, information that, combined with witness accounts, shows the unusual moment of the incident.
“It was clearly done when no one was around,” said Nashville Mayor John Cooper.
Here’s what we know about what happened in Nashville before the explosion.
Several hours later, Betsy Williams said she was woken up by what appeared to be a quick shootout.
“It looked like an automatic weapon,” she said, saying it was “disconcerting”.
About 5-10 minutes later, she heard the sound again, so she called 911. Minutes later, she heard the shooting for the third time, so she called 911 again.
Buck McCoy said he was also woken up by what he thought were shots. He got up and looked out the window, said, but went back to bed when he saw nothing.
Police said they were called to the scene after a report of shots fired at about 5:30 am.
Countdown
The RV was repeatedly broadcasting a message warning of an explosion scheduled to occur in 15 minutes, police said.
“Evacuate now,” said the computerized female voice from the vehicle, according to Williams.
“This vehicle will explode in 15 minutes,” said the voice, according to Williams. After repeating the message for a minute, the voice said the vehicle would explode in 14 minutes. The countdown has started.
“When the time started, that’s when we thought, ‘oh shit’,” she said. “We need to get out of here.”
Williams, still in his pajamas, and his family grabbed his cat and went to the car to leave the nearby area. She said she saw the police isolate 2nd Avenue to prevent anyone from going down.
David Malloy was walking his dog, a black German shepherd named DJ, when he noticed police cars around every corner.
Then he heard a voice that he thought came from a police car telling people to “evacuate” and “please back off”.
The explosion
As the countdown neared its end, the message emanating from the RV changed, according to the surveillance video taken from a building across the street.
“If you can hear this message, evacuate now,” said the voice at around 6:30 am. “If you can hear this message, evacuate now.”
Then a crash and a blinding flash.
Malloy, with his dog, said he asked an officer if they should evacuate when he saw the explosion.
“It was just a big fireball explosion,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do with this.”
Williams and his family saw the explosive fireball as they drove down 2nd Avenue, she said.
“Everything, I mean, everything shook. It was an explosion,” she said.
When Buck McCoy looked out, he saw fallen trees everywhere and broken glass strewn across the street.
“Everything on the street was on fire,” he said. “Three cars were totally engulfed.”
The aftermath
Mayor John Cooper said on Friday that the explosion was caused by a “deliberate bomb” designed to create chaos.
Three people were transported from the site to hospitals, but none are in critical condition, said PIO Joseph Pleasant of Nashville firefighters. The force of the blast knocked one police officer down and caused another to lose his hearing, the police said, but no police officers were seriously injured.
Police chief John Drake said investigators found tissue near the blast site that may have been human remains.
The explosion hit at least 41 companies and a building partially collapsed, officials said. Concerned about the structural integrity of the affected buildings, the city isolated the area and will not allow anyone to enter until Sunday afternoon.
“It will take some time for 2nd Ave to return to normal,” said Nashville Mayor John Cooper.
McCoy, who lives in front of where the trailer exploded, said his windows had exploded and water started pouring out of the ceiling. He had scratches on his face, hands and feet, but he was fine.