Nashville’s Christmas explosion: What we know so far

CBS News identified Anthony Quinn Warner as a person of interest in the investigation into the blast. Property records obtained by the Washington Examiner revealed an Nashville area address connected to an Anthony Q. Warner. Google Maps street view images of the residence show an RV that looks similar to the one police identified as responsible for the explosion.

A reporter for USA Today spoke to an FBI representative who confirmed the bureau was conducting an investigation at the property in question.

CBS News and CNN have reported, citing investigators and law enforcement sources, that the suspect was likely killed in the explosion.

“Nashville Law enforcement sources tell [CBS News] leading theory is suspect may have been killed in Nashville explosion,” said reporter Catherine Herridge. “DNA tests on remains found at scene are being conducted to determine if they belong to suspect or someone else + Fed agents searching home person of interest.”

“Investigators now believe this was a suicide bombing,” CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz said on Saturday evening. “They believe that the person who constructed this bomb, who blew this bomb up died in that explosion.”

U.S. Attorney Dan Cochran said they were investigating hundreds of leads during a Saturday afternoon press conference and described the scene as a “giant jigsaw puzzle.”

On Friday morning, officers responded to a call of shots fired in Nashville’s downtown. They found an RV playing a countdown recording, warning those nearby of an explosion that would come in 15 minutes. Officers evacuated the area before the bomb detonated.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake spoke to reporters in a press conference on Friday evening, saying the incident was a “total surprise.”

“I don’t want to speculate, but you would think that this person didn’t want to harm people, that maybe he just wanted to destroy, but we’re not sure until we get further into the investigation,” he said.

The explosion caused outages for many AT&T internet and phone users, affecting 911 availability for many localities across the state. Outages continued into Saturday. Police departments posted landline numbers on their social media accounts to provide access for those seeking emergency services. AT&T said in a statement on Friday that one of its facilities was damaged in the blast.

The outages caused flights out of Nashville International Airport to be halted on Friday, but most of Saturday’s flights appeared to be running on time, according to the Nashville Tennessean.

In a letter on Friday, Governor Bill Lee requested President Trump to declare a state of emergency in order to provide extra assistance to the area.

After explaining the crisis, he wrote, “Given these factors, the severity and magnitude of the current situation is such that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments.”

In a tweet on Saturday, businessman and CNBC personality Marcus Lemonis pledged a $250,000 reward in connection with the investigation. “I would like to put up a $250,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction inside of your process, of [this] Nashville incident,” he wrote. “We can’t have our streets terrorized like this.”

Others, including Fox Sport host Clay Travis, have done the same, totaling a $315,000 reward.