2020 Nashville bombing | |
---|---|
Location | 166 Second Avenue North Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Coordinates | 36°09′50″N86°46′35″W / 36.16389°N 86.77639°W |
Date | December 25, 2020 6:30 am CST (12:30 UTC) |
Target | Unknown |
Attack type | Suicide bombing |
Weapon | Car bomb |
Deaths | 1 (the perpetrator) [1] |
Injured | 8 |
Perpetrator | Anthony Quinn Warner [1] |
Motive | Suicide driven by life stressors (Suspected) [2] |
On December 25, 2020, Anthony Quinn Warner detonated a recreational vehicle (RV) bomb in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States, killing himself, injuring eight people and damaging dozens of buildings in the surrounding area. [3] [4] [5] [6] It took place at 166 Second Avenue North between Church Street and Commerce Street at 6:30 am, adjacent to an AT&T network facility, resulting in days-long communication service outages.
People near the RV heard gunshots, and loudspeakers on the RV warned them to evacuate before the bombing, which was felt miles away. [4] [7] [8] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined that Warner, a Nashville resident, was the bomber and acted alone. [1] [9]
The explosion was caused by a car bomb carried in a Thor Motor Coach Chateau RV that was parked [10] outside an AT&T network facility on Second Avenue North in downtown Nashville at 1:22 am on December 25, 2020. [11] Four to five hours after the RV arrived, people nearby were awakened by the sound of rapid gunfire in at least three bursts, followed by a computerized female voice broadcasting over a public address system: "All buildings in this area must be evacuated now. If you can hear this message, evacuate now." [4] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] "Stay clear of this vehicle", "Do not approach this vehicle", and "Your primary objective is to evacuate these buildings now" were also among the messages broadcast from the RV. [15] The broadcast warned that there was a bomb in the vehicle, a 15-minute countdown elapsed, [11] [14] and the speakers switched to snippets from the 1964 song "Downtown" by Petula Clark. [16] [17]
Responding to reports of shots being fired at around 5:30 am, two police officers arrived at the area. Though they did not hear any shots, they discovered the parked vehicle and heard the warning. [8] [18] They and three other responding officers subsequently evacuated homes in the area and called in reinforcements, including the hazardous devices unit (bomb squad), while a sixth officer stayed on the street to redirect pedestrians. [4] [18] [19] Two of the officers investigated the RV at one point and observed a camera positioned above its rearview mirror. [18] The vehicle exploded at 6:30 am, while the bomb squad was on its way to the area. [4] [20]
Eight people were treated at hospitals for injuries and later discharged. [5] Three of them sustained non-critical injuries, including two of the officers who had been evacuating residents. [21] [22] [23] The bomber died at the scene, while no other fatalities were reported. [1] [20]
One video posted to social media appeared to show debris from the bombing landing on a building about two blocks away from the initial location. [24] At least three vehicles burned after the bombing, [4] at least 41 businesses were damaged, and one building located across the street, away from the site of the bombing, collapsed. [4] [11] Structural engineers deemed some of the buildings in the area to be safe by December 29. [25]
The bombing caused structural and infrastructure damage to a nearby AT&T service facility, which contained a telephone exchange with network equipment in it, resulting in AT&T service outages across the U.S., primarily in Middle Tennessee. [26] Although the facility's backup generators were rendered nonfunctional because of fire and water damage, communication services initially remained uninterrupted while the facility was able to run on battery power. [27] However, outages were reported hours after the explosion, with significant service disruptions in the area by around noon. [26] Cellular, wireline telephone, internet, and U-verse television service were affected, as were multiple local 9-1-1 and non-emergency phone networks in the region, along with Nashville's COVID-19 community hotline and some hospital systems. [6] [26] [28] T-Mobile also reported interruptions to its service. [29] The Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center experienced communication issues, leading the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground flights from Nashville International Airport for about an hour. [30] [31]
Outages continued to affect communication services, including Internet, phone, and 9-1-1 services, for days after the bombing. [32] [33] Some stores reported switching to a cash-only policy because credit card systems were out of service, and issues with ATMs were reported. [34] [35] AT&T mentioned deploying two mobile cell sites downtown by the next morning, with additional ones deployed throughout Nashville by evening, but it gave no specific timeline in regard to a full restoration of service, adding that a fire that reignited during the night led to an evacuation of the building. [33] [34] Officials later said a full service restoration could take days. [21]
After the bombing, a bomb squad, along with police and federal investigators, arrived at the site to gather evidence and determine what type of explosive was used in the blast. [24] [36] [37] Authorities swept the area and did not find any additional explosives. [36] Investigators found shell casings in the area but believed they were remnants of unfired ammunition that was destroyed in the explosion. [38] No evidence was found confirming gunshots were fired in the area despite the initial 9-1-1 calls. [39]
Human remains found near the site of the explosion matched DNA found on gloves and a hat found in a car owned by Anthony Quinn Warner; a 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) reconstructed from the remains of the RV was also linked to Warner. [1] [36] [40] [41] Investigators determined the act was a suicide bombing, and Mayor John Cooper called it an attack on infrastructure. [1] [9] Hours of surveillance camera footage indicated that no one other than Warner was involved. [42] Warner's friends and family cooperated with investigators. [43]
The FBI field office in Memphis led the investigation, which also involved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and local law enforcement agencies. [11] [43] More than 250 FBI personnel from at least seven field offices were involved. [44] A reward for any information about the bombing was announced shortly into the investigation; [45] more than 500 tips and leads were received. [46]
Authorities concluded that 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner (January 17, 1957 – December 25, 2020), a longtime resident of Nashville, [47] [48] [49] was the bomber, that his remains were found in the wreckage, and that there was no indication anyone else was involved. [1] [42] [50]
Warner was raised in Nashville's Antioch neighborhood and graduated from Antioch High School in the mid-1970s. [42] His late father Charles Bernard Warner had been a BellSouth employee in Nashville, which merged with AT&T in 2006. [51] Anthony Warner worked in a series of information technology jobs, [42] including as an independent computer technician contracted with a real estate firm, and he had also owned a company licensed to produce burglar alarms from 1993 to 1998. [5] [47] [50] He served two years' probation for felony marijuana possession in 1978 but had no other arrests or criminal record. [42] [43] Late in his life, Warner was involved in a family dispute that went to court after he had transferred ownership of a family home to himself directly before his brother Steve's death in 2018; the case was dismissed the following year. [40]
In the weeks leading up to the bombing, Warner quit his job, gave away his car, and executed a quitclaim deed transferring his Nashville duplex home to a Los Angeles woman for $0. [10] [42] He had previously executed a quitclaim deed for a different Nashville house in 2019, transferring his interest in the home to the same woman. [52] Reportedly, Warner had told the woman to whom he gave his car that he had cancer, although whether he actually had cancer is not known. A neighbor said that just before Christmas, Warner had said that "Nashville and the world is never going to forget me." [53] Credit card and receipt records examined by investigators showed that Warner had purchased components that could be used to make bombs. [44] [54]
Authorities initially said that Warner had not attracted the attention of police prior to the bombing. [1] [47] However, it was later revealed that Warner's friend, Pamela Perry, as well as her attorney, had met with police on August 21, 2019. Perry said that Warner had been making bombs in the RV, and her attorney, who previously represented Warner, indicated that he believed her. [55] [56] [57] [58] Police were unable to make contact with Warner; did not enter Warner's home, yard, or RV; and eventually closed the case as unfounded after an officer observing the home for a few days reported no evidence of bomb-making. [57] [59] Following the visit, police forwarded an incident report to and requested a database check from the FBI. [60] Neither the FBI nor the Department of Defense found anything suspicious regarding Warner. [61] [62]
Investigators searched Warner's home in Nashville after the bombing, [6] and several items were seized, including a computer and a portable storage device. [54] Google Street View images of his address appeared to show an RV similar to the one that was used in the bombing. [63] [64] Neighbors of the property told WKRN-TV news that they recognized the RV in the image released by police, saying it had sat unused for years until its owner began giving it renewed attention about a month before the bombing, with it disappearing from the property days before the bombing. [65] Neighbors called him reclusive [50] and said they never discussed politics or religion with him. [42] [47]
Warner is also "believed to have spent time hunting for alien lifeforms in a nearby state park." [44] The FBI said that, prior to the bombing, he "sent materials which espoused his viewpoints to several acquaintances throughout the country." [66] [67] The packages, which the FBI investigated, included writings in which he expresses belief in 9/11 conspiracy theories, Moon landing conspiracy theories, and the reptilian conspiracy theory. He also referenced a UFO conspiracy theory in which space aliens had purportedly begun to attack Earth in September 2011, which was covered up by the media. He wrote, in part, "Everything is an illusion" and "there is no such thing as death". [68] One of the recipients of the letter provided a copy to Nashville's WTVF NewsChannel 5, but the outlet decided not to publish it in full, to avoid giving Warner 'unnecessary notoriety'. [68]
On March 15, 2021, investigators eventually came to the conclusion that Warner had acted alone in the bombing, and that the bombing was not connected to terrorism. The bombing was a result of wanting to end his own life, driven by life stresses. He was also fueled by paranoia, conspiracy theories, and the deterioration of interpersonal relationships. Warner picked the area to make an impact on the city, while also trying to minimize injury. The FBI also stated that there was no evidence of Warner wanting to bring social or political change, or that any person or business was specifically targeted. [2]
The Nashville Fire Department evacuated the downtown riverfront, [69] [70] and Mayor Cooper issued a curfew for the affected area, which was lifted by December 28. [1] The FAA issued a notice declaring a circular area with a radius of 1 nautical mile (1.15 mi; 1.85 km), centered around the site of the bombing, as "National Defense Airspace", effective that afternoon and lasting for five days. [71] The bombing adversely affected many small business owners operating in the area, who were already dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state and the aftermath of a tornado that passed through the city in March 2020. [72]
The bombing revived a debate in the U.S. about which acts are labeled as terrorism and why. [73] Former national security prosecutor Alex Little and Nashville city councilor Bob Mendes said the bombing fit the definition of domestic terrorism. Federal investigators avoided using the term in the days following the bombing, with Special Agent in Charge Doug Korneski saying they had not yet established whether Warner had used violence to promote political or social beliefs. [74]
Addressing the terrorism classification debate, a USA Today December 2020 op-ed by Max Abrahms and Joseph Mroszczyk stated that the bombing exhibited an unprecedented combination of features, each of which could be found in different modern attacks labeled as "terrorist": the intentional minimization of casualties as exhibited by "left-wing groups... targeting... property instead of humans", the perpetrator's suicide as a method "uncommonly employed... by those like Warner who are trying to minimize human suffering", no clear motive or manifesto, and the use of a car bomb as seen in Islamic terrorist attacks. The Nashville bombing was unique in that it combined all of these traits, which the authors stated was without precedent. [75] National security expert Dr. Erroll Southers told local news outlet WKRN-TV he saw similarities to the Provisional Irish Republican Army, given how Warner warned the public about the bomb and allowed the area to be evacuated before detonation. [76]
On the same day as the bombing, police in Cincinnati, Ohio, shut down streets downtown for a few hours while investigating an RV that appeared to have its engine running outside of a federal building, citing the Nashville incident as a reason for the high level of caution. The RV turned out to have a generator mounted to it in operation, which produced a sound reminiscent of a running vehicle engine. [77] [78]
On December 27, a section of U.S. Highway 231 in nearby Wilson County, Tennessee, was shut down because a box truck was playing audio "similar to what was heard" before the bombing. The truck was travelling north from the Walterhill community in Rutherford County along Highway 231 when it was pulled over. The driver was arrested by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department, and no explosives were found. [79] He was charged with two felony counts of filing a false report and one of tampering with evidence, and held on $500,000 bond. [80]
On December 31, police evacuated and cordoned off downtown Lexington, Kentucky, because of a suspicious RV parked in the area. An officer spotted the RV and, citing concerns ensuing from the Nashville bombing, brought in an explosives-sniffing dog to inspect it. The dog indicated that the RV contained explosives, prompting the evacuations. The scene was declared clear two hours later after no explosives were found and police had located the driver. [81]
Over 60 different buildings, including both commercial and residential properties, were affected by the blast. [82] Over 1,000 people were left jobless, and over 400 local residents were displaced from their homes. [83] Over a third of all directly affected buildings remained temporarily or permanently closed as of one year later. [84] Of those that were shuttered, several cited hardship from both the blast and the COVID-19 pandemic as factors in doing so. Among those closed included the George Jones Museum and Bar, [85] The Old Spaghetti Factory, a Hooters restaurant, [86] and a franchise location for The Melting Pot. [87] Some affected businesses, such as the Coyote Ugly Saloon remained temporarily closed for extended periods, while others were forced to relocate out of their 2nd Ave venues. [88] [89]
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. Located in Middle Tennessee, it had a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census. Nashville is the 21st most populous city in the United States, and the fourth most populous city in the southeastern U.S. Located on the Cumberland River, the city is the center of the Nashville metropolitan area, and is one of the fastest growing in the nation.
A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device (IED) that uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion due to the containment causing increased pressure. The fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially lethal shrapnel.
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others; another person later died of a heart attack. It was the first of four bombings committed by Eric Rudolph in a terrorism campaign against the U.S. government which he accused of championing "the ideals of global socialism" and "abortion on demand". Security guard Richard Jewell discovered the bomb before detonation, notified Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers, and began clearing spectators out of the park along with other security guards.
Nashville International Airport is a public/military airport in the southeastern section of Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1937, its original name was Berry Field, from which its ICAO and IATA identifiers are derived. The current terminal was built in 1987, and the airport took its current name in 1988. Nashville International Airport has four runways and covers 4,555 acres (1,843 ha) of land. It is the busiest airport in Tennessee, with more boardings and arrivals than all other airports in the state combined.
Bridgestone Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1996, it is the home of the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League.
333 Commerce St is a 617-foot (188 m), 33-story skyscraper completed in September 1994 and located in Nashville, Tennessee. The structure is designed as an office tower capable of housing 2,000 workers. It is currently the tallest building in the state of Tennessee.
On Thursday, 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks by Islamist extremists disrupted part of London's public transport system as a follow-up attack from the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on the London Underground, and on London Buses route 26 in Haggerston. A fifth bomber dumped his device without attempting to set it off.
The 2005 University of Oklahoma bombing occurred on October 1, 2005 at approximately 7:30 p.m. CDT, when a bomb went off near the George Lynn Cross Hall on Van Vleet Oval on the University of Oklahoma (OU) main campus. The blast took place less than 200 yards west of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where 84,501 spectators were attending a football game. The bomber, OU student Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs III, was killed in the explosion; no one else was killed.
On the morning of March 6, 2008, an unknown individual placed a small bomb in front of a United States Armed Forces recruiting station in Times Square, located in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. There were no injuries. A security camera shows the bomber riding a bicycle as he approaches the station, dismounting the bike and planting the bomb, and then speeding off shortly before the blast.
The Exeter bombing was a failed bombing attempt that took place on 22 May 2008, at the Giraffe cafe and restaurant in Princesshay, Exeter, England. The bomber, Nicky Reilly, 22, from Plymouth, who was the only person injured, pleaded guilty on 15 October 2008 to launching the attempted suicide attack.
The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs that detonated near the finish line of the race 14 seconds and 210 yards (190 m) apart. Three people were killed and hundreds injured, including 17 who lost limbs.
Dzhokhar "Jahar" Anzorovich Tsarnaev is an American terrorist of Chechen and Avar descent who perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombing. On April 15, 2013, Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted pressure cooker bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The bombs detonated, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Ramzi Yousef and associates against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. The 1,336 lb (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to make the North Tower collapse onto the South Tower, taking down both skyscrapers and killing tens of thousands of people. While it failed to do so, it killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and caused over a thousand injuries. About 50,000 people were evacuated from the buildings that day.
On September 17–19, 2016, three bombs exploded and several unexploded ones were found in the New York metropolitan area. The bombings left 31 people wounded, but no fatalities or life-threatening injuries were reported.
Jocques Clemmons, a 31-year-old, was fatally shot on February 10, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, after a traffic stop where Clemmons pulled out a gun, leading to a confrontation with Joshua Lippert, a 32-year-old police officer. After an investigation, the Davidson County District Attorney declined to prosecute Lippert on any charges, a decision that was protested by several groups. After reviews at several levels of the Nashville Police and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's work and reports, the U.S. Department of Justice closed the case in August 2017.
The Manchester Arena bombing, or Manchester Arena attack, was an Islamic terrorist suicide bombing of the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, on 22 May 2017, following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Perpetrated by Islamic extremist Salman Abedi and aided by his brother, Hashem Abedi, the bombing occurred at 22:31 and killed 22 people, injured 1,017, and destroyed the arena's foyer. It was the deadliest act of terrorism and the first suicide bombing in the United Kingdom since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
Richard Jewell is a 2019 American biographical drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and written by Billy Ray. It is based on the 1997 Vanity Fair article "American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell" by Marie Brenner and the 2019 book The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle by Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen. The film depicts the July 27, 1996, Centennial Olympic Park bombing and its aftermath, as security guard Richard Jewell finds a bomb during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and alerts authorities to evacuate, only to later be wrongly accused of having placed the device himself. Paul Walter Hauser stars as Jewell, supported by Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, and Olivia Wilde.
The Second Avenue Commercial District is a historic district in Nashville, Tennessee, consisting of Second Avenue North between Brandon Street and Broadway. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 2, 1972.
The Otherside Lounge bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack that occurred on February 21, 1997, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. At approximately 9:45 p.m., a bomb exploded at the Otherside Lounge lesbian bar that damaged the building and destroyed several cars in the parking lot. While no one was killed, five people were injured, including one critically injured patron. The bombing had been carried out by Eric Rudolph, a serial bomber who had previously committed the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996 that was responsible for two deaths, and he had targeted the nightclub due to his strong opposition to the gay rights movement.