Nashville motorhome broadcast explosion warning 15 minutes before blast, police say
Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore
A motorhome which exploded in the US, injuring three people, had broadcast a warning to bystanders that it was going to detonate in 15 minutes, police have said.
The blast shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville when it detonated early on Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings and wounding three people.
Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional.
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said police were responding to a report of shots fired when they encountered a recreational vehicle blaring a recording that said a potential bomb was going to detonate in 15 minutes.
Police evacuated nearby buildings and called in the bomb squad.
“Shortly after that, the RV exploded,” Chief Drake said.
Video posted on social media and which appeared to be recorded from across the street captured an audio recording that included the warning, “... if you can hear this message, evacuate now.”
The blast was captured on the surveillance video just seconds later.
Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron said three people were taken to hospitals for treatment, although none were in critical conditions.
However, authorities do not know whether anyone was in the vehicle when it exploded.
Mr Aaron said earlier that some people were taken to the department’s central precinct for questioning but declined to give more details.
The FBI will be taking the lead in the investigation, spokesperson Joel Siskovic said.
Federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also on the scene.
The FBI is the primary law enforcement agency responsible for investigating federal crimes, such as explosives violations and acts of terrorism.
At noon, police dogs continued to search cars and buildings in the nearby area.
Black smoke and flames were seen early on Friday morning, billowing from the area, which is packed with bars, restaurants and other retail establishments and is known as the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene.
An AT&T facility was among the buildings affected. Some service was interrupted, the telecommunications company said.
“Service for some customers in Nashville and the surrounding areas may be affected by damage to our facilities from the explosion this morning," AT&T spokesperson Jim Greer in an emailed statement.
"We are in contact with law enforcement and working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service.”
Mr Aaron said it was not known if the motorhome being parked near a building owned by AT&T, which is one block away from the AT&T building office tower "was a coincidence, or if that was the intention".
Some police agencies reported that their 911 systems were down due to the AT&T outage.
Murfreesboro police department said via Twitter that its 911 lines were currently down because of an AT&T outage, while Knox County reported similar troubles with its 911 lines.
Buck McCoy, who lives near the area, posted videos on Facebook that show water pouring down the ceiling of his home.
Alarms blare in the background and a fire is visible in the street outside.
Mr McCoy claimed he heard gunfire 15 minutes before the explosion rocked his building.
He added the windows of his home were entirely blown out.
“All my windows, every single one of them got blown into the next room. If I had been standing there it would have been horrible,” he said.
“It felt like a bomb. It was that big,” he told The Associated Press.
“There were about four cars on fire. I don’t know if it was so hot they just caught on fire, and the trees were all blown apart,” he said.
Donald Trump has been briefed, according to White House spokesperson Judd Deere, who said that the president, who is spending Christmas in Florida, will continue to receive regular updates.
The US Justice Department said Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen was also briefed and directed all department resources be made available to help with the investigation.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on Twitter that the state would provide the resources necessary “to determine what happened and who was responsible. Please join @MariaLeeTN and me in praying for those who were injured and we thank all of our first responders who acted so quickly this morning.”
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said the city was lucky that the number of injuries was limited.
The American Red Cross of Tennessee announced that it was working with officials to open a shelter for victims.