(AP) — An explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings, and wounding three people.
Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional. Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said police were responding to a report of shots fired when they encountered a recreational vehicle blaring a recording that said a potential bomb was to detonate in 15 minutes. Police evacuated nearby buildings and called in the bomb squad.
“Shortly after that, the RV exploded,” Drake said at a midday news conference. Surveillance video published on a Twitter account Friday that appeared to be recorded from across the street captured an audio recording that included the warning, “… if you can hear this message, evacuate now.”
BREAKING: Audio warning was being broadcast before explosion rocked downtown Nashville. Video shows moment of blast. pic.twitter.com/3IvciFH6BV
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 25, 2020
The blast was captured on the surveillance video seconds later. Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, although none were in critical condition. Authorities don’t know whether anyone was in the vehicle when it exploded, however. Aaron said earlier that some people were taken to the department’s central precinct for questioning but declined to give more details. READ MORE
