Local and federal authorities are investigating the explosion of a recreational vehicle that broadcast a warning to residents before it blew up in downtown Nashville early Friday.
The explosion, which police called an “intentional act,” shattered the Christmas morning quiet in the center of the city’s business district around 6:30 a.m. CT Friday. Three people received non-critical injuries, bricks toppled from buildings blocks away, trees were knocked to the ground, and streets had the charred look of a battleground.
According to the police, officers arrived at the scene before the explosion, responding to reports of shots fired around 5:30 a.m. and found an RV parked in front of an AT&T building. The RV was broadcasting a warning about an imminent explosion and telling people to evacuate through what sounded like a recorded voice.
“They heard the announcements coming from this vehicle, took them seriously and were working to seal the streets to protect folks,” said Metropolitan Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron. “We think lives were saved by those officers doing just that.”
The explosion was so powerful it knocked one of the officers to the ground, prompting police to bring in counselors.
“They went through a very traumatic experience,” Aaron said.
Officials said they had no sense of the motive of anyone who would set off a pre-dawn bomb in a largely deserted area after warning people to stay away. The explosion disrupted AT&T service around Nashville, the company told The Tennesseean, because of the proximity of the blast to the building.
Smoke and fire could be seen from the area in the wake of the explosion, just across the Cumberland river from the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Stadium and half a mile from the state Capitol.
Joseph Pleasant, a spokesman for the Nashville Fire Department, said at a news conference Friday morning that three people were taken to local hospitals with non-critical injuries.
As of noon CT, officials said they were not aware of any deaths related to the explosion but added that rescue teams were searching local buildings, as well as assessing them for hazardous material and structural damage. Officials said they weren’t sure if anybody had been inside the RV when it blew up. Though police dogs were sniffing for other explosive materials in the area, officials said they did not believe there were other bombs planted.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” said Fire Chief William Swann.
Matt Foster, an assistant special agent in charge with the FBI, the agency leading the investigation, said authorities are still combing through what he called a “massive crime scene” and aren’t sure who was behind the explosion.
He called on local residents to reach out to the FBI with information.
“Please tell us what you know,” he said. “We need your leads. We need your help.”
City Councilman Freddie O’Connell, who represents the area, tweeted that “dozens” of his constituents had lost their homes on a frigid holiday morning with snow expected.
“We will work together to get through this and rebuild,” O’Connell tweeted.
Photos posted to social media by the city’s fire department showed broken windows, damaged trees and extensive property damage along a stretch of 2nd Avenue North in Nashville. Local TV stations showed footage of walls blown off of buildings.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said the explosion had destroyed water mains, exacerbating the “drama” at the scene. He estimated that around 20 buildings sustained damage.
“It looks like a bomb went off on 2nd Avenue,” Cooper said, “an explosion.”
The mayor noted that the damage would have been far worse on a weekday. The typically busy downtown street was fairly sleepy Friday in the early hours of Christmas, Cooper said.
“It would be a different message if it were 5 p.m. on a Friday,” he told reporters at the scene.
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A local newspaper reported that the blast from the explosion could be felt from miles away.
The area is mainly home to offices, restaurants and stores but local residents live in apartments and condos that have been renovated in recent years on the upper floors of buildings in the charming stretch of downtown, which is popular with tourists.
The city’s bomb squad was on the scene after the explosion, along with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted that it has agents and dogs trained to detect accelerants at the scene to assist in the investigation, which is being led by the FBI.
A White House spokesman said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the explosion and would be receiving regular updates. A spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department said Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen had made all department resources available to assist in the investigation.