Dec. 27 (UPI) — Authorities in Nashville said Sunday that Anthony Quinn Warner was responsible for an explosion on Christmas morning damaging dozens of businesses in the city’s downtown area.
During a press conference Sunday, investigators declared that they matched human remains at the scene to the 63-year-old Warner’s DNA and matched a vehicle identification number to a registration associated with him.
The RV exploded in downtown Nashville on Friday after broadcasting a warning message advising people to leave the area 15 minutes before the blast that damaged 41 businesses, including historic buildings in the area.
Police also said the RV played the 1963 song “Downtown” by Petula Clark over the speakers before the explosion on Friday. Authorities did not specify exactly what the audio in the incident on Sunday included.
Earlier in the day, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron confirmed to The Washington Post that Warner was under investigation for Friday’s blast after authorities gathered at his home in Antioch, Tenn., about 10 miles southeast of the site of the blast.
Authorities said that Warner owned an RV of a similar make and model to the one that was used in that explosion.
Authorities did not provide any insight on a possible motive for the explosion, however, Nashville Mayor John Cooper told CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday that the presence of an AT&T building in the area of Friday’s blast may have indicated it was intended as an attack on the service.
“To all of us locally, it feels like there has to be some connection with the AT&T facility and the site of the bombing,” he said. “That’s a bit of just local insight in because it’s got to have something to do with the infrastructure.”
In a statement Sunday afternoon, AT&T said that more than 75% of mobility sites affected by Friday’s explosion had been restored.
“Mobility service in the Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama areas is now operating normally,” the company said.
Metro Police Chief John Drake said that there was no indication that others were involved in Friday’s bombing.
“Nashville is safe,” he said.
Authorities on Sunday also apprehended the driver of a truck playing similar audio to that heard before a Christmas morning explosion in Nashville.
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office announced on Facebook around 2 p.m. Sunday that the driver traveled from their county to Wilson County where he was stopped by deputies and detained, days after the blast that damaged dozens of businesses in downtown Nashville.
“Sheriff’s deputies in Rutherford and Wilson Counties are investigating a box truck parked at a convenience store playing audio similar to what was heard before the Christmas Day explosion in Nashville,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
Nearby residents were evacuated and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office said that Highway 231 South was closed as the scene remained active on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities on Sunday did not comment on any potential links between the two incidents.
