Nashville, Tennessee. – Investigators studying the Christmas morning explosion in Nashville believe the explosion was likely the result of a suicide bombing, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Officials have previously said they have recovered human remains at the site of the attack in downtown Nashville and an FBI official said Saturday that officers are not looking for any other suspects.
Officers are also at a home in Antioch, southeast of Nashville, to conduct “court-authorized activities,” FBI spokesman Jason Pack told CNN. According to a law enforcement officer, advice on the vehicle involved in the Christmas morning blast brought law enforcement to the house in Antioch.
Pump technicians have cleaned the house to make sure a test team can enter, Pack said. Now investigators are waiting for the test team to arrive and enter. Pack would not confirm who lives in the house, but neighbor Steve Schmoldt told CNN that his wife noticed police trucks last night in the neighborhood.
A recreational vehicle at home seen by Street View on Google Maps appears to match what law enforcement has asked the public for information. Investigators believe the RV seen in the photos is the same at the center of the blast, said law enforcement source, but cannot be sure because it was destroyed during the blast.
The blast occurred Friday at 6:30 a.m. CT, after a computerized voice emitting from a parked van loudly urged people to evacuate, warning that the vehicle would explode within minutes.
The RV explosion caused at least three injuries, set fire to several vehicles, destroyed several buildings on the block and caused wireless service to much of the region.
Police officers provided little new information at a news conference Saturday about how the investigation was progressing, but FBI Special Officer Douglas Korneski said investigators were working on the case on “several fronts.”
This effort involves the FBI’s behavior analysis unit in Quantico, Virginia, along with approximately 250 FBI personnel working at the scene with law enforcement partners.
As the investigation continues, there are no indications of an active manhunt, indicating that investigators are not looking for someone who still poses a danger to the public, several sources in the app’s website have told law.
“We cannot confirm any individual or anyone we have identified,” Korneski said, adding that “at this time we are not prepared to identify any individual.”
Korneski also said researchers have no indication they are looking for another topic. He added that there are no indications of other “explosive threats” and that no other explosive devices were discovered during a sweep of the area.
Among the questions investigators are trying to answer is whether the AT&T transmission building that was damaged during the blast was the target of the blast, according to sources.
Asked Saturday whether the AT&T building was a target, Korneski said, “We’re looking at every possible reason.”
The damage is “shocking”
Officials have said they are confident the blast was “intentional.” However, the Christmas date, the morning timing and the unusual warnings issued by the speaker before the explosion indicate that it was not an attempted mass murder.
“It was made clear when no one would go there,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper said Friday.
No spectators were killed in the blast. However, investigators found tissues they believe could be human remains near the site of the blast, said John Drake, head of the Nashville Metro police department.
The blast caused at least 41 businesses on Nashville’s Second Avenue, a street full of historic buildings. Concerned about the structural integrity of the affected buildings, the city cordoned off the area and will not allow anyone to enter until Sunday afternoon.
“It will be a while before Second Avenue returns to normal,” Cooper said.
Tennessee government Bill Lee announced Saturday that it had requested a federal emergency declaration from President Donald Trump after touring the site that morning.
“The damage is shocking and it is a miracle that no resident was killed,” the governor said.
Morning shots before warnings
Several local residents told CNN that they woke up to the sound of gunfire Friday morning. Police said they were called to the scene after a report of gunfire around 5:30 p.m.
Once at the scene, police found a white RV parked in front of an AT&T transmission building at 166 Second Ave. North. The RV repeatedly issued a message warning of an explosion that would occur in 15 minutes, police said.
“This vehicle will explode in 15 minutes,” the voice said, according to Betsy Williams, who was staying in a Second Avenue apartment. After repeating this message for a minute, the voice said the vehicle would explode in 14 minutes and continued counting back from there.
Six uniformed police officers who heard the message immediately began knocking on doors and evacuating residents. Mayor Cooper praised them as heroes and said their swift action saved lives.
As the countdown approached the end, the RV’s message changed, according to the surveillance video taken from a street building.
“If you can hear that message, evacuate now,” the voice said around 6:30 p.m. “If you can hear this message, evacuate now.”
Then, the vehicle exploded with an intense flash of light.
Three civilians were hospitalized and are in stable condition, officials said. The force of the blast knocked down one officer, police spokesman Don Aaron said, and caused hearing loss in another. But no officer was seriously injured.
Officials have no information on whether there was anyone inside the RV when it exploded. Police also tweeted about a photo of the RV when it was driving in the area at 1:22 a.m. Friday.
As the investigation continues, officials will meticulously search the area for any trace of physical evidence, according to Andrew McCabe, a CNN police analyst and former FBI deputy director. However, the essential evidence could be spread across a large scene, given the size of the explosion.
The most important question to answer right now is who was behind the explosion, McCabe said.
“We need to know who put this thing in there and detonated it,” he said. “It’s only after you’ve understood this that you start talking about things like reason or purpose.”
Area blocked to the public
Williams, the eyewitness, told CNN he was in his car with his family when the RV exploded into a fireball.
“It just, I mean, it all shook. It was an explosion,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Three cars were set on fire. The trees were down. Bricks and glass were everywhere. Another resident said the scene of the destruction was like an apocalyptic movie.
AT&T spokesman Jim Greer told CNN that the company’s network center in the city was damaged by the blast and that service in the Nashville area was affected. AT&T is CNN’s parent company.
On Saturday, the company said crews were working 24 hours a day to restore the cuts caused by the blast. Site crews had faced challenges, however, including having to evacuate the building due to an overnight fire.
AT&T announced Saturday afternoon that it had distributed more than six portable cell transmitters in Nashville to help with communications, including response managers and restoration equipment, and with additional resources along the way. Power to the building’s facilities is restored using generators.
The street is on the edge of Nashville’s tourist and hospitality district, in a historic part of the city.
FBI lab technical experts and test response teams have been incorporated across the country to “help prosecute this massive crime scene,” said FBI Deputy Special Agent Matt Foster.
ATF Special Agent Mickey French said his agency had activated its national response teams and was working alongside FBI and Nashville police. The agency has specialists in explosives, chemicals and engineers involved in the test recovery process.