Investigators are investigating whether Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner was with his dogs when he exploded on Christmas Day, officials said on Monday.
The 63-year-old loner was known to be devoted to puppies – even building a wheelchair ramp in his suburban home so they wouldn’t have to use the stairs, his neighbor told The Tennessean.
He reportedly told a friend that he planned to “spend a few weeks in the forest with his dogs” – with investigators now examining whether any were with him during his suicide mission.
“We don’t know that yet,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director David Rausch told reporters on Monday when asked if one of Warner’s dogs “died” beside him.
“This is still information that we are trying to determine, all of these details,” he said.
Warner has had several dogs over the years, including two Shetland sheepdogs and a larger dog that he adopted, his 25-year-old neighbor, Steve Schmoldt, told The Tennessean.
He “took good care of his dogs,” said the neighbor, who thought the dogs were already dead.
But Warner allegedly referred to them in late November, when he wrote to Michelle Swing – the woman to whom he gave two houses for free – and said he “intended to travel on Christmas Eve to spend a few weeks in the forest with his dogs”, the UK Sun reported.