FBI: Christmas morning bombing in Nashville was ‘intentional act’ meant to end bomber’s own life
NASHVILLE – Federal agents said Monday that the Christmas morning bombing that rocked a city block in downtown Nashville was not an act of terrorism but, rather, motivated by the bomber’s intention to kill himself.
The determination comes after the FBI, working closely with multiple law enforcement partners, combed through more than three tons of evidence recovered from the blast site, vetted more than 2,500 tips and conducted more than 250 interviews, WHBQ reported.
The FBI report, referenced in a Monday news release, indicated that 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner of Antioch, Tennessee, acted “in an effort to end his own life,” prompted by several “stressors,” including “paranoia” and “eccentric” beliefs rooted in conspiracy theories.
“Warner specifically chose the location and timing of the bombing so that it would be impactful, while still minimizing the likelihood of causing undue injury,” the FBI stated in the news release.
>> Related: Who was Anthony Quinn Warner, Nashville bomber feds say died in Christmas morning blast?
According to authorities, Warner rigged a recreational vehicle that he parked on Nashville’s Second Avenue to explode at around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2020. He reportedly used a loudspeaker to warn people to evacuate prior to the explosion and played Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” before broadcasting a countdown in a computerized female voice.
Warner’s death in the blast was confirmed using DNA and other unspecified evidence, and his was the only fatality caused.
The RV, however, was parked outside an AT&T switch facility, resulting in substantial damage that crippled telephone and internet services across the region for several days, USA Today reported.
Police briefly investigated Warner in August 2019, after his girlfriend told officers that he was building a bomb in his RV, the outlet reported, noting an internal report confirmed she said at that time that Warner “knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb.”
