US officials say Nashville explosion suspect died in Christmas Day blast

(UPDATE: 12/27/20 8:30 P.M.): The Sheriff’s Office says 33-year-old James Turgeon, the driver of a box truck that was heard playing audio at a convenience store outside of Nashville, has been detained and charged with felony filing a false report and tampering with evidence for intentionally damaging the speaker system.

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(UPDATE: 12/27/20 6:50 P.M.): The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office was called to investigate a second suspicious vehicle heard playing music similar to the music played from an RV before it exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day. Highway patrol says a robot was sent to investigate the box truck, but didn’t find anything inside. Officials say the driver has been detained while the investigation is ongoing.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Federal authorities have now identified the man allegedly responsible for the Christmas Day bombing in downtown Nashville, where three people were injured and dozens of buildings were damaged. Investigators used DNA to link Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, of Antioch, Tennessee, to the blast, and said that he died in the explosion.

The FBI matched the RV’s vehicle identification number (VIN) to a registration that belonged to Warner. Authorities have said they believe no one else was involved.

“Based on the evidence that we’ve gathered to this point, we’ve come to the conclusion that an individual named Anthony Warner is the bomber,” U.S. Attorney Don Cochran said during a press conference. “He was present when the bomb went off, and he perished in the bombing.”

According to public records, Warner had experience with electronics and alarms, and had worked as a computer consultant for a local realtor. Authorities did not immediately provide details about a potential motive behind his actions.

The blast occurred near an AT&T building, causing widespread communications outages in neighboring states and disrupted police emergency systems and grounded flights at Nashville International Airport.