Natalie’s Commentary: Police have released the picture above of the RV suspected to be the cause of the bombing early Christmas morning in Nashville. This image from very early Christmas morning (1:22 am) shows that the RV was placed at the location of the explosion many hours before it was detonated.
In addition, police report finding possible human remains. The exact location of this finding has not been made public nor what it means to the investigation.
More details below. ~ Natalie
Police Release Image of RV Connected to Nashville Christmas Day Explosion
The Metro Nashville Police Department released a photo of the RV that exploded in downtown Nashville, Tennesse, on Friday morning.
The image appears to have been taken from a surveillance camera located at the intersection of Commerce Street and 2nd Ave. North, about half a block from the place where the incident happened.
The Police said it arrived at 1:22 a.m. CT, about five hours ahead of the explosion.
“This is the RV that exploded on 2nd Ave N this morning. It arrived on 2nd Ave at 1:22 a.m. Have you seen this vehicle in our area or do you have information about it?” the police department wrote in a Twitter post.
Various law enforcement departments urged people who have seen the vehicle or have information about it to contact the Metro Nashville Police Department Crime Stoppers by calling 615-742-7463 or provide information to FBI Memphis via their website.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily halted flights out of Nashville International Airport (BNA), located 6 miles Southeast of the explosion site.
“Due to telecommunications issues associated with this morning’s incident in downtown Nashville, FAA has temporarily halted flights out of BNA. We expect the issues to be resolved & anticipate service to resume by 3 pm CT. An update will be provided by 3:30 pm CT,” the airport said in a statement on Twitter.
It’s unclear what kind of telecommunications issues were caused by the explosion. Local AT&T wireless and internet service was disrupted after the explosion and the outrate caused widespread 911 issues locally, the Tennessean reported.
The explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings, and wounding three people. Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional.
Nashville police were able to usher people to safety before the explosion. A warning message was broadcast urging people to evacuate moments before the blast.
Officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department carried out door-to-door and apartment-to-apartment checks and managed to get people to safety shortly before the blast, according to statements made at a press conference.
There was a loudspeaker warning people to clear the area before the massive blast, according to a Metro Nashville Police spokesperson and surveillance footage.
“All buildings in this area must be evacuated now,” a voice could be heard in the video. “If you can hear this message, evacuate now,” the warning was repeated before the blast occurred.
One officer was knocked down to the ground by the explosion, while another experienced temporary hearing loss, police said at the presser. No officer sustained serious injuries in the incident, police said.
Police spokesman Don Aaron said three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, although none were in critical condition.
He added that the 6:30 a.m. blast was believed to be “an intentional act.”
Tom Ozimek contributed to the report.
Nashville Explosion: Possible Human Remains Found, Motive Unknown
Metro Nashville Police said that they found possible human remains at the explosion site and that the motive behind the incident is still unclear.
“We have tissue that we believe could be [human] remains and we’ll just have that examined,” Chief of Police John Drake told reporters during a press conference on Friday afternoon.
He didn’t elaborate on where the possible human remains were found.
He said police officers arrived before the explosion happened and found a dire message being broadcast from the now-exploded RV about 15 minutes prior to the blast.
The officers were able to evacuate the area successfully.
“They heard an RV giving out a message, basically saying that it was going to detonate within a certain timeframe,” he said. “Officers immediately began knocking on doors evacuating residents here, not knowing that the bomb was going to detonate immediately, or if it’s going to go off to the time that it was stated.”
He praised the police officers for their courageous acts.
Warning: Viewers may find the video content to be disturbing.
Drake said the explosion was a total surprise and the police didn’t get any advance notice before the event.
“I thought maybe it was going to be a propane explosion of explosives from an RV and it turned out to be an intentional act,” he said.
“We have not received any threat whatsoever,” he added.
An RV exploded at around 6:30 a.m. CT on Friday in front of 166 2nd Ave N in downtown Nashville. The explosion shook the largely deserted streets of the area early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings, and wounding three people. Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional.
The police didn’t confirm if there were people inside the RV when it exploded. There are no known fatalities for now.
The motive behind this incident is still unknown, the police said.
“I don’t want to speculate but he would think that this person didn’t want to harm people, maybe just wanted to destroy. But we’re not sure until we get further into the investigation,” Drake stated.
William Swann, director-chief of Metro Nashville Fire Department, told reporters that one building collapsed due to the explosion and the integrity of other buildings on the block is in question because of their age.
The Metro Nashville Police Department released a photo of the suspected RV earlier the day. Various law enforcement departments urged people who have seen the vehicle or have information about it to contact the Metro Nashville Police Department Crime Stoppers by calling 615-742-7463 or provide information to FBI Memphis via their website.
The explosion caused widespread communications outages that took down police emergency systems and caused flights to be grounded.
The flights out of Nashville International Airport (BNA) are resuming after being temporarily halted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the airport said in an update on their social media platform.