Before being identified as a suspect and the only person killed in the Christmas morning explosion in Nashville, Tennessee, Anthony Warner, according to people who knew him, was a loner who had recently retired as an information technology consultant.
Warner, 63, died when his recreational vehicle exploded in an explosion that shook downtown Nashville, injuring at least three people and damaging more than 40 companies. Warner was identified as the suicide bomber after authorities said they combined the scene’s DNA with Warner’s and that a trailer identification number corresponded to a vehicle registered for him.
Steve Schmoldt, Warner’s next-door neighbor since 2001, described Warner as a “loner” who he understood to be an information technology specialist who worked from home. Schmoldt said that Warner once told him that he had 14 security cameras in his home.
“He was a loner,” said Schmoldt. “I never saw anyone enter your home. I never saw you receive anyone.”
But Warner was friendly to him and his wife, he said. They sometimes interacted while Warner was working in his yard or on his property.
“I never saw him in a bad mood,” said Schmoldt.
Warner has had several dogs over the years that he “loved” and “really cared for,” he said.
“I’ll be honest with you, the way he took care of the dogs, I had the impression that he wouldn’t hurt a flea. Even though some people thought it was strange, he was completely harmless to me, ”he said.
Investigators said Warner’s trailer was parked in front of an AT&T building on Christmas morning. It exploded at 6:30 am local time, while police responded to reports of gunfire in the area. Responding officers heard a warning of an impending explosion coming from a loudspeaker system in the RV. Police officers also heard the vehicle broadcast Petula Clark’s song “Downtown”.
“For the past few days, of course, I have been trying to think in my head why he would feel he had to do this, but I didn’t know him very well to come to any kind of conclusion,” Schmoldt said. “I never thought he would do anything like that, but this is the kind of world we’re living in now, I think.”
Warner ceded his property on Bakertown Road in Antioquia, the day before Thanksgiving Day to a woman in Los Angeles for $ 0, showing the property records of a withdrawal lawsuit.
Before the explosion, he told a woman he had cancer, several police officials said on Sunday. It was not clear whether this was true, officials said, but Warner gave the woman the car. Officials did not identify the woman. An FBI spokesman said the agents are investigating all aspects of the case.
Warner told Fridrich & Clark Realty this month, where he worked as a contractor, who was retiring, said Steve Fridrich, the company’s president and managing partner, in a statement on Monday.
Fridrich said that a “computer consultant named Tony Warner worked as an independent contractor” for the company for several years.
“Tony Warner was never an employee of our company, but occasionally came to our office to maintain our computers,” he said in the statement.
Fridrich said that Warner had warned the company this month that he was retiring and that the company has not had contact with him since.
“Upon hearing that Tony is a suspect in the 2nd Avenue bombing on Christmas morning, Fridrich & Clark notified the authorities that he had provided IT services for our company,” said Fridrich. “The Tony Warner that we knew is a good person who never exhibited any behavior that was less than professional.”
Warner had a marijuana possession arrest for resale by the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department in January 1978, according to a state prison record released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Other state records show that Warner was charged with criminal drug possession in 1978 and was sentenced to two years probation.
The FBI held back expectations on Monday that a motive would be determined as quickly as they were able to determine the identity of the alleged suicide bomber.
The US attorney’s office and the FBI said earlier that they were able to use Warner’s DNA, the bombing vehicle’s VIN and tips from the public to determine the bomber’s identity less than 48 hours after the explosion, which paralyzed AT&T service in the region.
The FBI said on Monday it would not be able to determine why so quickly.
The FBI said several interviews were being conducted with Warner associates to try to develop a better picture of who he was and what his origins were.
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I was also trying to develop a comprehensive timeline and sequence of events in Warner’s life and the sequence of events in the days and hours leading up to the explosion.
FBI spokesman Jason Pack said, “We are in the early stages to determine why. The FBI and ATF agents are still collecting evidence from the scene and conducting several interviews, which our team will need to analyze.
“It is a lengthy process that can take several weeks,” said Pack.
Tom Winter and Donna Mendell contributed.