Nashville police officers went to the home of Christmas Day suicide bomber Anthony Warner in August 2019 after his girlfriend claimed he was constructing bombs in the RV that decimated a block of the city’s downtown, disrupting cellphone and 911 services for days. The new report contradicts claims from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations that Warner was “not on our radar” prior to the bombing.
Officers were called to home of Warner’s girlfriend on Aug. 21, just a mile and a half away from Warner’s home on Bakertown Lane, according to the Tennessean. They found her outside her home with two unloaded guns where she told officials that Warner “was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence,” according to an Metropolitan Nashville Police Department report.
MNPD spokesman Don Aaron told the outlet that the girlfriend “related that the guns belonged to a ‘Tony Warner’ and that she did not want them in the house any longer.”
The girlfriend’s lawyer, Raymond Throckmorton III, said at the time that Warner “frequently talks about the military and bomb making,” telling authorities that Warner “knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb.”
Police went to Warner’s home after speaking with the girlfriend but were unable to contact him. Officers saw the vehicle, but it was fenced off, and police were unable to see inside the vehicle for any signs of bombs or bomb-making materials.
“They saw no evidence of a crime and had no authority to enter his home or fenced property,” Aaron said.
The officers left, a report was written, and the department’s hazardous devices unit was notified. The FBI was notified of the report but told local authorities that “they checked their holdings and found no records on Warner at all.”
The FBI told the Tennessean that Throckmorton later would not allow law enforcement to interview Warner or access his property, telling them that Warner “did not care for the police.”
“At no time was there any evidence of a crime detected and no additional action was taken,” Aaron said. “No additional information about Warner came to the department’s or the FBI’s attention after August 2019.”
Here is a recent photo of Anthony Quinn Warner. Call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit tips online at https://t.co/hG6KFmQ7dG. https://t.co/kW1qhkycaw pic.twitter.com/kP007jCLT1
— FBI Memphis (@FBIMemphis) December 28, 2020
The Christmas Day explosion left at least three people hospitalized and 41 businesses damaged. Perhaps most significantly damaged was an AT&T facility adjacent to where the RV that exploded was positioned. The blast caused outages in parts of Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky and affected 911 services in several states. Warner died in the explosion.
Civilian injuries were kept to a minimum after a message played over the RV’s speakers notified six law enforcement officers who responded to the scene to evacuate those who were within the blast range. Nashville Mayor John Cooper called the bombing a deliberate infrastructure attack.
Warner’s identity was confirmed based on DNA testing conducted from human remains found at the crime scene and a sample taken from a vehicle used by Warner.
Investigators have not released a statement on potential motivations behind the attack, but speculation surfaced that Warner, who worked freelance IT jobs, was paranoid about 5G and believed in conspiracy theories about the communications technology. The Daily Mail reported that “agents are also investigating whether Quinn’s paranoia over telecommunications began with the death of his father,” who “died of dementia after spending his career working for BellSouth, a former AT&T subsidiary which re-merged with the company in 2006.”
Authorities are also exploring evidence that Warner was interested in other conspiracy theories, including a belief in “lizard people” — shape-shifting reptilian aliens who secretly control the world, according to ABC News. Sources said Warner would go to nearby state parks to hunt for aliens.
