Anthony Warner: Nashville’s suspicious bomber girlfriend warned she was building bombs

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – More than a year before Anthony Warner detonated a bomb in downtown Nashville at Christmas, officers visited his home after his girlfriend told police he was building bombs in a vehicle trailer all-terrain vehicle at his residence, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. But they couldn’t get in touch with him, or see inside his RV.

Officers were called to Pamela Perry’s home in Nashville on Aug. 21, 2019, after receiving a report from her attorney making suicide threats while she was sitting on her porch with guns, the Department said Tuesday. of Metropolitan Nashville Police in an email release. According to a police report, attorney Raymond Throckmorton told officers that day that he also represented Warner.

When officers arrived at Perry’s home, police said he had two unloaded pistols sitting next to him on the porch. She told them those weapons belonged to “Tony Warner,” police said, and she no longer wanted them in the house. Perry, 62, was taken for a psychological evaluation after talking on the phone with mental health professionals.

WATCH: Nashville PD Releases Camera Camera Images of Christmas Day Blast

Throckmorton told The Tennessean that Perry was afraid of her safety and thought Warner might hurt her. The lawyer was also at the scene that day and told officers that Warner “often talks about the military and making bombs,” according to the police report. Warner “knows what he’s doing and is capable of making a bomb,” Throckmorton told responding agents.

Police then went to Warner’s home, located about 1.5 miles from Perry’s home, but he did not answer the door when they knocked several times. According to the report, they saw the motorhome in the backyard, but the yard was closed and officers could not see the inside of the vehicle.

The report said there were also “several security cameras and cables connected to an alarm sign on the front door” of the house. Officers alerted supervisors and detectives.

“They saw no evidence of a crime and had no authority to enter their home or locked property,” the police statement states.

After officers visited Warner’s home last August, the police department’s hazardous devices unit received a copy of the police report. During the week of August 26, 2019, they contacted Throckmorton. Police said officers recalled that Throckmorton said Warner “did not care about the police” and would not allow Warner to “allow a visual inspection of the RV.”

Throckmorton disputes that he told police they could not search the vehicle. “I have no memory of it,” he told The Tennessean. “I no longer represented him. I was not an active client. I am not a criminal defense attorney.”

Throckmorton told the newspaper that he represented Warner in a civil case several years ago and that Warner was no longer his client in August 2019. “Someone, somewhere, dropped the ball,” he said.

SEE: The police camera shows the moment the downtown Nashville bomb explodes

A day after officers visited Warner’s home, the police report and identifying information about Warner were sent to the FBI to check its databases and determine if Warner had previous military connections, he said. the police.

Later that day, the police department said that “the FBI reported that it checked its funds and found no records in Warner.” FBI spokesman Darrell DeBusk told The Tennessean the agency had conducted standard agency-to-agency control.

Six days later, “the FBI reported that the Department of Defense’s controls on Warner were negative,” the police department said.

No other information about Warner came to the department or the attention of the FBI after August 2019, police said. “At no time was any evidence of a crime detected and no further action was taken,” the statement said. “The ATF also had no information about him.”

CLOCK: The video shows the consequences of the explosion:

Warner’s only arrest was on a 1978 marijuana-related charge.

The bombing took place on Christmas morning, long before the streets of the center were boiled with activity. Police were responding to a report of gunfire Friday when they encountered the RV sounding a warning that a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes. Then, for reasons that will never be known, the audio switched to a recording of Petula Clark’s 1964 hit “Downtown” shortly before the explosion. Dozens of buildings were damaged and several people were injured.

Investigators have not uncovered the reasons for the Christmas Day bombing nor was it revealed why Warner had selected the specific location, which damaged an AT&T building and wreaked havoc on cell phone, police and hospital communications in several southern states while the company was working to restore service. The company said Monday that most services had been restored for residents and businesses.