Nashville, Tennessee. – Investigators investigating the Christmas morning explosion in Nashville now believe the explosion was likely the result of a suicide attack, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Officials have previously said they recovered human remains at the site of the bombing in downtown Nashville, and an FBI official said on Saturday that agents are not looking for another suspect.
Agents are also at a house in Antioch, just southeast of Nashville, to conduct “ court-authorized activities, ” FBI spokesman Jason Pack told CNN. According to a law enforcement official, a tip about the vehicle involved in the Christmas morning explosion led police to the home in Antioch.
Bomb engineers cleared the house to make sure it is safe for an evidence team to enter, Pack said. Investigators are now waiting for the evidence team to arrive and enter. Pack wouldn’t confirm who lives in the house, but neighbor Steve Schmoldt told CNN his wife had spotted police cars nearby last night.
A recreational vehicle at the house, seen via Street View on Google Maps, appears to match the vehicle police have asked the public for information about. Investigators believe the RV seen in the photos is the same one in the middle of the explosion, the law enforcement source said, but they are unsure as it was destroyed in the blast.
The blast occurred at 6:30 a.m. CT on Friday, after a computer-controlled voice from a parked RV noisily urged people to evacuate, warning that the vehicle would detonate in minutes.
The RV explosion injured at least three people, set several other vehicles on fire, destroyed several buildings in the block, and shut down wireless service in much of the region.
Law enforcement officials gave little new information at a press conference on Saturday about how the investigation was progressing, but Douglas Korneski, special agent for the FBI, said investigators were working the case on “several fronts.”
That effort includes the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit in Quantico, Virginia, along with about 250 FBI personnel who work on the ground with law enforcement partners.
As the investigation progresses, there are no signs of an active manhunt, an indication that investigators are not looking for someone who is still a danger to the public, several law enforcement sources tell CNN.
“We cannot confirm any person or anyone that we have identified,” said Korneski, adding “at this point in time we are not prepared to identify a single individual.”
Korneski also said researchers have no indication whatsoever that they are looking for a different topic. He added that there is no evidence of other “explosive threats” and that no other explosives were detected during a sweep through the area.
One of the questions researchers are trying to answer is whether the AT&T transmission building that was damaged during the blast was the target of the blast, the sources say.
When asked Saturday if the AT&T building was a target, Korneski said, “We’re looking at every possible motive.”
Damage is ‘shocking’
Officials have said they are confident the explosion was “deliberate.” Still, the Christmas date, early morning timing, and unusual warnings broadcast over the speakers before the explosion indicate that this was not a mass murder attempt.
“It was clearly done if no one was around,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper said Friday.
No bystanders died from the explosion. However, investigators have found tissue that they believe may be human remains near the site of the explosion, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said.
The blast broke into at least 41 businesses on Nashville’s Second Avenue, a street lined with historic buildings. Concerned about the structural integrity of the degraded buildings, the city has cordoned off the area and no one will enter until Sunday afternoon.
“It will take a while for Second Avenue to return to normal,” Cooper said.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced on Saturday that he had asked President Donald Trump for a federal emergency statement after visiting the site that morning.
“The damage is shocking and it is a miracle that no residents have died,” said the governor.
Gunshots early in the morning before warnings
Several locals told CNN that they woke up early Friday morning to the sound of gunfire. Police said they were called to the site after a report of gunfire at around 5:30 am
Once on the scene, police found a white RV parked in front of an AT&T transmission building at 166 Second Ave. North. The RV repeatedly broadcast a message warning that an explosion would occur within 15 minutes, police said.
“This vehicle will detonate in 15 minutes,” the voice said, according to Betsy Williams, who stayed in an apartment on Second Avenue. After repeating that message for a minute, the voice said the vehicle will detonate in 14 minutes and continue counting down from there.
Six uniformed police officers who heard the message immediately began knocking on doors and evacuating residents. Mayor Cooper hailed them as heroes and said their quick action saved lives.
As the countdown got closer to the end, the RV’s message changed, according to surveillance video shot from a building across the street.
“If you can hear this message, evacuate now,” the voice said at about 6:30 am. “If you can hear this message, evacuate now.”
The vehicle then exploded in a bright flash of light.
Three civilians have been hospitalized and are in stable condition, officials said. The force of the explosion knocked out one officer, police spokesman Don Aaron said, causing hearing loss in another. But not a single officer was seriously injured.
Officials have no information as to whether anyone was in the RV when it exploded. Police also tweeted a photo of the RV as it was driven into the area at 1:22 a.m. on Friday.
According to Andrew McCabe, a CNN law enforcement analyst and former deputy director of the FBI, as the investigation progresses, officials will scrutinize the area for traces of physical evidence. However, given the scale of the explosion, vital evidence could be spread over a large scene.
The most important question to be answered right now is who was behind the explosion, McCabe said.
“We need to know who put this thing up there and detonated it,” he said. “Only when you find out do you start talking about things like motive or purpose.”
Area closed from the public
Williams, the eyewitness, told CNN that she was in her car with her family when the RV exploded in a fireball.
“Everything just shook, I mean, everything shook. It was really great,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Three cars were set on fire. Trees had fallen. There were stones and glass everywhere. Another resident said the scene of destruction was like an apocalyptic movie.
AT&T spokesman Jim Greer told CNN that the company’s network hub in the city was damaged in the explosion and that service in the Nashville area was affected. AT&T is CNN’s parent company.
On Saturday, the company said crews were working around the clock to fix the outages caused by the explosion. However, on-site teams faced challenges, including having to evacuate the building due to a nighttime fire.
AT&T announced Saturday afternoon that it had distributed more than six portable cellular transmitters in Nashville to support communications, including for emergency responders and recovery teams, and with additional resources en route. Power to the facilities in the building is restored via generators.
The street is on the edge of Nashville’s hospitality and tourist district in a historic part of the city.
FBI lab technical experts and evidence response teams have been brought in from across the country to “help process this massive crime scene,” said Matt Foster, an FBI assistant assistant.
ATF Special Agent Mickey French said his agency had activated its national response teams and was working with the FBI and the Nashville Police Department. The agency has explosive specialists, chemists and engineers involved in the evidence recovery process.