Nashville Christmas bomber Anthony Warner died in blast, remains identified

Nashville: The local IT consultant who set off a bomb in a motorhome that rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas Day died in the explosion.

Investigators said they used DNA to identify the remains as Anthony Quinn Warner, a reclusive computer consultant with no police record or known grievances who spent the final weeks of his life turning his motorhome into a massive bomb that would explode in a scene reminiscent of an action film.

Warner's remains were found near the motorhome, which early on Christmas morning blasted a deserted city block in the Tennessee city of Nashville shortly after broadcasting both a robotic warning it would explode and then the 1964 hit Downtown by Petula Clark.

He sent an email to one of his clients three weeks ago to say he was retiring, The New York Times reported: "He started shedding possessions: he told his ex-girlfriend that he had cancer and gave her his car. Records show that he signed away his home on the day before Thanksgiving."

There was no indication anyone aside from Warner was involved in the bombing. The FBi later released an undated social media image of him.

This undated image posted on social media by the FBI shows Anthony Quinn Warner.Credit: FBI

"We've come to the conclusion that Anthony Warner is the bomber," Donald Cochran, the US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said at a news conference on Sunday, local time. "He was present when the bomb went off, and he perished in the bombing."

Three people were injured and dozens of buildings were damaged, but Warner was the only fatality.

In publicly identifying the perpetrator and his fate, officials disclosed a major breakthrough in their investigation even as they acknowledged the lingering mystery behind the explosion, which took place on a holiday morning well before downtown streets were bustling with activity and was accompanied by a recorded announcement warning anyone nearby that a bomb would soon detonate.

Then, for reasons that may never be known, the audio switched to a recording of Petula Clark's 1964 hit Downtown shortly before the blast.

Police officers provided harrowing details on Sunday, local time, of responding to the Christmas morning explosion, choking up as they relived the moments that led up to the blast and giving thanks they were still alive.

Nashville Police Officer Amanda Topping heard the song played just before the explosion. Credit: AP

"This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life," officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told reporters at a news conference. "Christmas will never be the same."

"I just see orange and then I hear a loud boom. As I'm stumbling around, I just tell myself to stay on my feet and to stay alive," Wells said, at times tearing up.

Officer Amanda Topping said she initially parked their police car beside the motorhome while responding to the call before moving it once they heard the recording. Topping said she called her wife to let her know that "things were just really strange" as she helped guide people away from the motorhome.

That's when she heard the recording switch from a warning to playing Clark's hit, Downtown. Moments later the explosion struck.

Investigators walk near the scene of an explosion at Nashville, Tennessee. The explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville early on Christmas morning.Credit: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

"I felt the waves of heat, but I kind of just lost it and started sprinting toward (Wells)," Topping said. "I've never grabbed someone so hard in my life."

Investigators have not uncovered a singular motive for the act nor was it revealed why Warner had selected the particular location for the bombing, which damaged an AT&T building and has continued to wreak havoc on cellphone services and police and hospital communications in several Southern states as the company worked to restore its systems.

By Saturday, police had identified Warner as a suspect and started searching his home.

Several neighbours described seeing a motorhome, similar to the one that blew up on Friday morning, in the backyard of Warner's home in the Nashville suburb of Antioch for several months prior to the blast.

Investigators remove items from the basement of Warner's home on Saturday.Credit: Mark Humphrey, AP

Steve Schmoldt, Warner's next-door neighbour for 25 years, told the Tennessean that Warner was "kind of low-key to the point of, I don’t know, I guess some people would say he’s a little odd".

Schmoldt said nobody ever seemed to visit Warner at home. "Never saw him go anywhere. As far as we knew, he was kind of a computer geek that worked at home."

He said his neighbour never discussed politics or religion, never displayed signs in his yard or mentioned any beliefs.

Schmoldt said Warner built a gate in his fence two weeks ago and drove his motorhome into the back yard.

This image taken from surveillance video provided by Metro Nashville PD shows a recreational vehicle that was involved in a blast on Christmas day in Nashville. Credit: AP

"To be honest, we didn't really pay any attention, it was gone until the FBI and ATF showed up," Schmoldt told the Tennessean.

Separately, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press that federal investigators have started examining Warner's digital footprint and financial history.

The official could not discuss the case publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The official said forensic analysts are reviewing evidence collected from the blast site to try to identify the components of the explosives and are also reviewing information from the US Bomb Data Centre for intelligence and investigative leads.

A police officer at the scene of the explosion in downtown Nashville early on Christmas Day.Credit: AP

Nashville mayor John Cooper said the very specific location of the bombing, next to the AT&T building, indicated it was meant to be an attack on service, and that the city may need help in hardening its infrastructure in the wake of the attack.

"It feels like there has to be some connection with the AT&T facility and the site of the bombing," he told CBS News on Sunday. "It's got to have something to do with the infrastructure."

AT&T said in a statement that more than 75 per cent of the service sites affected by the explosion had been restored.

AP, The Washington Post, staff writers.

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