Listen Live

A new video of the Christmas morning bombing in downtown Nashville was released by police authorities Monday.

The footage was captured on Nashville police officer Michael Sipos’ body camera and shows the moments proceeding and immediately following the blast.

https://www.tennessean.com/videos/news/local/2020/12/28/nashville-officer-bodycam-footage-christmas-day-explosion/4068002001/

On Sunday, federal authorities identified Anthony Q. Warner, a 63-year-old from Antioch, TN, as the person responsible for the bombing.

The blast injured at least eight people and damaged more than 40 buildings, including an AT&T transmission facility.

FBI Special Agent in Charge of Indianapolis Paul Keenan told the Hammer and Nigel Show Monday that Warner’s motive for the bombing remains unclear.

“We’ve yet to discover the reason for the attack and why the suspect chose that particular location,” said Keenan. “But the fact that the blast occurred at 6:30 a.m. on Christmas morning and the suspect played a recording that warned in advance that the RV would explode seems to indicate that he did not intend to kill other people. Otherwise, he would have selected a more crowded area at a time when more people were likely to be present. So it’s possible he was just trying to draw attention to a cause or an idea, but we don’t know that yet.”

Keenan said the FBI is always on high alert for potential terrorist attacks, adding that federal authorities and law enforcement agencies have a heightened awareness around holidays, significant national anniversaries, and special events.

“[The holidays] are a time of heavy emotions – especially now with COVID and people being isolated more than usual due to the pandemic, and we are always encouraging citizens to provide information and contact authorities if they see or hear something suspicious,” said Keenan, adding that the general public is generally the “first line of defense” in preventing domestic terrorism.

“Somebody who is close to a potentially violent person is likely to observe that person acting out and giving indications of their intent to cause harm prior to a mass tragedy,” explained Keenan. “So those are really the people we depend on to call us and let us know if they see or hear something that raises their suspicion.”

Keenan told the Hammer and Nigel Show that FBI local field offices in cities across the country including Indianapolis have a crisis response plan in place to handle terror attacks like bombings and mass shootings.

“Unfortunately, we’ve become very good at responding to these types of events because they’ve been happening more frequently,” explained Keenan. “So we have those plans in place and we exercise them with local authorities to stay sharp in the event that a tragedy occurs.”

Click below to hear the Hammer and Nigel Show’s full interview with Special Agent in Charge of Indianapolis Paul Keenan.

https://omny.fm/shows/hammer-and-nigel-show/fbi-special-agent-paul-keenan-talks-nashville-bomb