Five of the six first responders who arrived on the scene of what would become a Christmas Day explosion spoke at a Sunday press conference and recounted the events that unfolded as they evacuated families before an RV exploded, hospitalizing three.
Officers Brenna Hosey, Michael Sipos, Amanda Topping, James Luellen, James Wells, and Timothy Miller responded to a call of shots fired around 6 a.m., where they found an RV with loudspeakers repeating that all buildings in the area must be evacuated. Miller did not attend the press conference because he was traveling.
The officers described the process of evacuating civilians and experiencing the explosion, most describing seeing orange and feeling the blast wave as shattered windows cascaded around them.
Luellen, who arrived first on scene, said he noticed the RV but initially had no suspicions about the vehicle since it was Christmas and people were traveling to be with families. They investigated the vehicle further after the speaker system began to sound the warning. He said there were no license plates on the vehicle, and all the shades were pulled down on the windows, preventing anyone from seeing inside.
Luellen added that after announcing the warning, the RV began to play “Downtown” by Petula Clark.
Wells, one of the responders close to the blast itself, described what he said was a warning from God to check on Topping seconds before the explosion.
“I literally hear God tell me to turn around and go check on Topping who was by herself down on Broadway, and as I turn around, for me, it felt like I only took three steps and then the music stopped — and as I’m walking back toward Topping I just see orange, and I hear a loud boom,” Wells said. “As I’m stumbling, it rocked me that hard. … I’m running toward Topping to make sure she’s OK. We kind of meet in the middle and grab each other and start checking on each other.”
“It was a weird feeling not being with everyone else,” Topping said. “I was standing there by my car, and I heard Tyler saying that music just came on. … I don’t know what told me to do this, it was really weird, but I decided to change my direction. … So as I start walking towards him and he was walking toward me … I was probably about 10 steps away from him, 15, and we’re just walking towards each other, and I just saw the biggest flames I’ve ever seen — the biggest explosion … I just saw orange and then him, and I saw him stumble, and I felt it, and I felt the heat.
“I just kind of lost it. I took off in a sprint toward him,” Topping added. “I never grabbed someone so hard in my life.”
Authorities identified at least one person of interest on Saturday but did not publicly confirm a name. CBS News reported the person of interest to be 63-year-old Anthony Warner. Images from Google Maps street view show an RV similar to the one police identified at the scene of the crime parked at the residency that property records show was connected to Warner.
CBS and CNN have reported, citing investigators and law enforcement sources, that the suspect was likely killed in the explosion.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper called the bombing an “intentional” infrastructure attack.
