An explosion occurred on Friday morning in downtown Nashville, damaging several buildings, setting cars on fire and destroying trees. Three people were reportedly injured during the explosion, but one dog walker narrowly avoided a fatal incident. A police officer had to redirect the person moments before the explosion.
Video footage from a Nest security system surfaced on Friday that showed an unidentified individual standing next to a set of double doors with a dog at their side. The person remained motionless before a police officer walked up gesturing. The explosion then took place and blew the doors inward. The dog walker and the police officer both disappeared from view.
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There were concerns about the dog walker and whether they avoided injury during the explosion. The full answer is not clear, but another video from security footage showed the unidentified individual walking down the street with the dog by their side after the explosion took place. They moved around some wreckage and then headed toward safety.
The explosion originated in an RV parked in front of an AT&T transmission building at 166 2nd Avenue North. Police officers were called to the area during the early morning hours in response to a report of shots fired. They did not discover evidence of any shots but discovered the RV, which was playing a recorded message.
According to Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake, the message — which featured a female voice — warned that an explosion would occur shortly. The officers requested the assistance of the hazardous devices unit and began evacuating the surrounding area. The explosion occurred at around 6:30 a.m. CT, resulting in three people suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
“As they responded, they encountered an RV that had a recording saying that a potential bomb would detonate within 15 minutes,” Drake told reporters on Friday. “Officers, upon hearing that, decided to evacuate the buildings nearby.” Drake also said that the officers began knocking on doors and delivering the warning to the residents. He also said that the explosion knocked an officer to the ground but that he was fine.
The incident is currently under investigation, per police spokesman Don Aaron. He confirmed that both local and federal agencies, including the FBI and ATF are taking part. “We do believe this to have been an intentional act,” he told reporters. “Significant damage has been done to the infrastructure there on 2nd Avenue North.”
According to the Associated Press, the investigators at the scene “have found tissue that we believe could be remains, but we’ll have that examined and let you know at that time.” Police could not say whether the tissue originated inside the RV.
