PICTURED: RV that exploded outside Nashville AT&T
PICTURED: Bomb-rigged RV that exploded outside Nashville AT&T transmission building on Christmas morning – causing widespread WIFI and cell outages – after playing a message that it would detonate in 15 minutes
- The blast happened on 2nd Avenue between Church St and Commerce St at around 6.40am on Friday
- Three people were taken to the hospital with non-serious injuries and there is significant damage
- A cop who was nearby was knocked over by it and has lost his hearing
- Police had been called to a suspicious vehicle in the street in the morning and had called a bomb squad
- While the bomb squad was on their way to the vehicle, the explosion happened
- It was felt for blocks, with people reporting feeling the ground shake and windows shattering
- The FBI and the ATF are on the scene to assist with the investigation; the type of explosive is not yet known
- They have not mentioned domestic terrorism but President Trump – who is at Mar-a-Lago- has been briefed
- Police have not yet identified a suspect and they are combing the area for any other explosives
- The area is full of bars and restaurants which are all open for indoor dining and would have attracted hundreds of people in the evening
- Mayor John Cooper says he thinks casualties were minimized because it happened on Christmas Day and early
There are widespread internet and cell phone outages in Nashville that have been linked to a bomb going off outside the AT&T building at 6am on Friday morning.
The bomb was inside an RV that exploded on Second Avenue, between Church and Commerce Street, at 6.40am.
Police were already on the scene and evacuating people after being called to the area forty minutes earlier amid reports of shots fired. When they got there, there were no obvious signs of a shooting but the RV was playing an announcement that it would explode in 15 minutes.
They rushed to get people out of their homes while the ominous, pre-recorded message played over and over again.
The FBI is investigating but so far no suspect or motive has been identified. Police do not even know if someone was inside the RV when it blew up because the blast was so intense that it was completely obliterated along with everything inside of it.
At around noon local time, people started reported having issues with their internet and phone signal.
It’s unclear if the AT&T building was the target of the bomb but the vehicle was parked outside it. There are also bars, restaurants and apartments nearby which had not yet opened.
Three people were taken to the hospital with non-serious injuries.
In this photo from the Twitter page of the Metro Nashville Police Department, a motorhome, that later exploded in Nashville, Tennessee on December 25, 2020, is seen driving down a street. It is shown at 1.22am on Thursday night. It was detonated on Friday at 6.40am
It is impossible to make out the driver of the RV from the grainy surveillance footage taken on Thursday night
Newly obtained security camera footage shows the moments before the bomb detonated on Friday morning in downtown Nashville
The blast turned the camera white for several seconds while car alarms sounded and windows smashed
The aftermath shows damage in the streets. The camera was not directly at the blast site – it would have been destroyed
Emergency personnel work near the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020
This is what is left of Second Avenue in downtown Nashville after the explosion on Friday morning. Police have not yet identified a suspect
An aerial view of the scene in downtown Nashville on Friday morning after an ‘intentional’ explosion came from a parked car
The scale of the debris was enormous. All of 2nd Avenue between The entire street on second avenue was covered with it
‘We do not know whether anyone was in the RV when it exploded. I can’t tell you if there’s a potential for that scenario,’ police spokesman Don Aaron said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
At a press conference shortly before 10am, police spokesman Don Aaron said it was an ‘intentional act’ but he did not give any information about potential suspects or motives.
Mayor John Cooper said after surveying the scene that it ‘looks like a bomb went off’.
The area has now been sealed off while police comb the area.
‘The explosion was significant as you can see from the street.
‘The police department, it’s partners, the FBI and ATF are conducting a large scale investigation.
‘We do believe the explosion was an intentional act,’ Aaron said.
In a later update, he said: ‘A number of our police dogs have been called ad are searching the area.
‘These are explosive detection dogs to make sure there are no secondary devices, out of an abundance of caution. We’re also going to be conducting searches of downtown buildings to make sure there’s no one in need of help.’
FBI Special Agent in charge Matt Foster made a plea to the public for information.
‘The FBI stands with the city of Nashville today in this very tragic Christmas Day event.
‘This is our city too. We live here, we work here. We’re putting everything we have into finding who was responsible for what happened here today.
‘There are leads that need to be pursued and technical works need to happen.’
Anyone with information about the incident has been asked to contact the FBI at www.fbi.gov/nashville or by calling them.
This was the scene in downtown Nashville on Friday morning after a parked vehicle exploded
This was the scene immediately after the explosion on Friday morning in downtown Nashville
Emergency personnel work near the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020
A law enforcement member walks past damage from an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020
A K-9 team works in the area of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020. Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning
A vehicle burns near the site of an explosion in the area of Second and Commerce in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. December 25, 2020. It’s unclear if this was the vehicle that caused the blast or not
Emergency personnel work at the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020
The explosion sent thick plumes of smoke which cut through the skyline for hours after the blast on Friday
Emergency personnel work at the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning
‘If you know anything about what has happened, we’d appreciate your help.
‘Please tell us what you know – we need your help,’ Foster said.
He revealed that police started evacuating people from the area before the explosion.
It’s unclear who called the police to report the suspicious vehicle or why they thought it was suspicious.
Residents reporting feeling the ground shake ten blocks away.
The blast caused damage to downtown buildings like broken windows, but no injuries have been reported and no serious harm was caused.
‘There is an incident involving an explosion. This is an active scene. Metro Nashville Police Department and Nashville Fire Department are on the scene.
‘There are no additional details to provide at this time,’ the Nashville Fire Department said in a statement.
Within minutes of the blast, social media lit up with people reporting that they felt it and the ground ‘shaking’.
Other videos emerged of small, break-out fires and people screaming in the street but miraculously no one has been seriously injured.
Mayor Cooper said he believes the fact it was Christmas Day means there were fewer casualties.
Speaking with assembled media later in the morning, mayor John Cooper said the area was filled with ‘a lot of broken glass and insulation that has been blown up into trees’.
He added that broken mains were sending water flooding out into the street.
‘It looks like a bomb went off,’ he said.
Cooper claimed the city’s Downtown area was quieter on Christmas morning than on other days as most residents were still asleep and were not headed out to work.
He believed that helped minimize the number of people left injured in the blast.
Debris scattered a near the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020. Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning
A building is damaged near the area where an explosion was reported on Friday, Dec. 25, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn. Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning
Smoke rises from downtown after a reported explosion on Friday, Dec. 25, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn. Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning
Sniffer dogs are now combing the area to look for any additional explosives
Cops with sniffer dogs in downtown Nashville on Friday morning after the explosion. They have not yet narrowed down what kind of device it was
Rocket Fizz, a candy store on Second Avenue, had its store fronts blown out by the explosion
In this photo from the Twitter page of the Nashville Fire Department, Firemen stand near damage on a street after an explosion in Nashville, Tennessee on December 25, 2020
This was the scene immediately after the explosion in downtown Nashville on Friday morning
This was the scene in downtown Nashville on Friday morning after a parked vehicle exploded at 6.40am
The Nashville Fire Department tweeted this photo of the aftermath of the explosion on Friday morning as they asked people to stay away from the area
Many of the businesses on Commerce Street had their windows blown out by the explosion
An aerial view of the aftermath of the explosion on Friday morning
