UPDATE: RV That Blew Up In Nashville Played Audio Warning Explosion Was Coming
As we previously reported, a large explosion was reported in downtown Nashville earlier this Christmas morning.
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Police initially responded to reports of shots fired near Second Avenue and Commerce Street before 6 a.m., when they saw a suspicious vehicle outside a nearby AT&T building. Metro police spokesperson Don Aaron said officers alerted the department’s bomb squad, which was en route when a “significant explosion” happened about thirty minutes later. The force of the explosion knocked an officer to the ground. At the time three people were sent to the hospital with injuries.
According to the latest update by the city’s police chief revealed that the RV that blew up in Nashville on Friday morning was reportedly playing a recording that warned it was going to explode. The recording said “a potential bomb would detonate within 15 minutes,” Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during an afternoon news conference. Meanwhile, an unconfirmed YouTube video clip titled “Nashville Explosion” appears to contain audio of the recording, with a female voice urging people to flee just before the blast. “All buildings in this area must be evacuated now. All buildings in this area must be evacuated now,” the voice says. The video has been shared by multiple news outlets including TMZ.
Although authorities say they believe the blast was intentionally set, they have not been more specific nor did they suggest whether or not this was an act of terrorism — domestic or otherwise. An investigation is still underway.
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