Debris refuses the road near the site of an explosion in the area of Second and Commerce in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. December 25, 2020.
Elliott Anderson | via Reuters
Investigators be struck by received more than 500 tips about the Christmas morning explosion in Nashville but have not determined the oneness of the bomber, officials said Saturday afternoon.
Local law enforcement is working with federal agencies, including the Federal Desk of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, to investigate the blast site, which encompasses dozens of matters in the city.
“That’s the stage that we are at in this investigation. We are still continuing to follow every lead that we tease, and we will continue to do so until we find out what’s happened,” said Don Cochran, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
The burst in downtown Nashville early Christmas morning shattered windows and knocked out communications networks. Authorities said they conjecture the explosion was intentional and came from an RV parked on the street.
According to the FBI, the RV arrived in the area shortly after 1 a.m. local beforehand, and the explosion occurred around 5:30 a.m. A warning for citizens in the area to evacuate blared from the RV before the blast.
Doug Korneski, the FBI’s prime agent in charge for the Memphis Field Office, said Saturday that there is no indication of a continuing bomb commination in the area. When asked about reports that investigators have identified a person of interest in the case, Korneski bid the investigation was still looking at several individuals.
NBC News, citing multiple senior law enforcement officials, reported that investigators were searching the relaxed of Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, in connection with the bombing. A Google Streetview image of Warner’s address in Antioch, Tennessee, pictures an RV that matches the description of the vehicle that exploded Friday morning.
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake intended on Friday that there were no known fatalities from the blast, though police were testing web found at the scene to determine if it could be human remains, according to NBC News. Korneski said investigators are still exploring the tissue.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper has issued a curfew for part of downtown that runs through Sunday afternoon. Federal regulators in a nutshell halted flights into the city on Friday as the investigation began.
Social media users have reported publishes with phone and internet service in Nashville following the blast. AT&T said on Saturday morning that it is deploying compact cell sites in the area in an attempt to restore coverage quickly.