Nashville Explosion: Police Release Image of RV Believed to Be Source of Blast

An explosion occurred Christmas morning in downtown Nashville, causing damage to the surrounding [...]

By John Newby

An explosion occurred Christmas morning in downtown Nashville, causing damage to the surrounding area. The authorities provided information after the incident revealing that an RV in the area had broadcast an evacuation warning. Now the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has released a photo of the vehicle suspected to be the source of the blast.

Metro Nashville PD's official account tweeted out a photo showing the suspected RV driving down the street. The image was grainy and didn't provide a clear look at the driver or the RV brand. The tweet also revealed that the suspected RV arrived on-site at an AT&T transmission building at 166 2nd Avenue North hours before the explosion. The police asked for any eyewitnesses that had seen the RV to provide information amid the ongoing investigation.

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake held a conference on Friday and said that officers had gone to the area in response to a report of shots fired. "As they responded, they encountered an RV that had a recording saying that a potential bomb would detonate within 15 minutes. Officers, upon hearing that, decided to evacuate the buildings nearby," he explained.

Drake said that the officers requested assistance from the hazardous devices unit and began evacuating the surrounding area after seeing no evidence of shots fired. They began knocking on doors and warning people about the potential explosion. Ultimately, only three people taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Officials say that the individuals are in stable condition.

While the officers said that they did not see evidence of shots fired, people in the area told CNN that they woke up to the sound of gunshots. One eyewitness, Betsy Williams, told Anderson Cooper that she and her family left the area when the RV announced that there were eight minutes remaining before the explosion. They headed to the parking lot of Nissan Stadium to wait but ultimately headed back toward downtown. Although they stopped after seeing a fireball that "went all the way up past the AT&T, above the AT&T building."

According to CNN, Drake also confirmed that investigators found "some tissue" near the blast site. He said that the tissue "will be examined" to determine whether they are human remains. Drake could not provide any information about how close the tissue was to the source of the explosion.

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