The man identified as the suspect in the Christmas attack in Nashville reportedly got rid of his expensive possessions – including his home – and told people he was ill or retiring in the weeks before the explosion.
Anthony Quinn Warner gave the car to his ex-girlfriend and said he was suffering from cancer, according to The New York Times. Just before Thanksgiving, he transferred the deed to his home, although additional details were not included in the report.
The IT consultant, who called “Tony” for those in his neighborhood of Antioch, Tennessee, told a client just three weeks before the Friday morning explosion that he would retire, according to the Times.
ANTHONY QUINN WARNER: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SUSPECT OF BOMBARDER NASHVILLE
Metro-Nashville Police Department officials were responding to a report of shots fired Friday morning when they found a Warner trailer parked near an AT&T building exploding a recording of a warning that a bomb was going to detonate in 15 minutes.
This undated image posted on social media by the FBI shows Anthony Quinn Warner. (Courtesy of the FBI via AP)
The audio then changed to a recording of Petula Clark’s 1964 hit “Downtown”. The trailer exploded shortly after, at approximately 6:30 am local time, just one block from the AT&T office tower.
The blast damaged dozens of buildings and injured three people, but only killed Warner. The attack also continued to wreak havoc on cell phone service and police and hospital communications in several southern states, while the company was working to restore service.
Authorities announced on Sunday that they believed Warner acted alone, but did not publicly state any reason for the attack. Warner was not known to the police before the explosion, officials said.
Warner, whose public records show that he had experience with electronics and alarms and also worked as a computer consultant for a real estate agent in Nashville, was considered a person of interest in the attack since at least Saturday, when federal and local investigators converged on a home in the Nashville suburb connected to it.
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Federal agents can be seen inspecting the property, searching the house and yard. A Google Maps image captured in May 2019 shows a recreational vehicle similar to the one that exploded parked in the yard, but was not on the property on Saturday, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Authorities said Warner’s identification was based on several pieces of evidence, including DNA found at the site of the explosion. Researchers had previously revealed that human remains were found nearby.
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In addition, Tennessee Highway Patrol investigators retrieved parts of the RV from the debris of the explosion and were able to link the vehicle’s identification number to an RV that was registered with Warner.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.