Officials: Nashville Bomber Died at Scene

Nashville officials on Sunday named Anthony Warner as the bomber in the Christmas Day explosion and said he died on the scene.

“He was present when the bomb went off and then he perished,” Don Cochran, the U.S. Attorney General for the Middle District of Tennessee, said during a press briefing.

“We base this conclusion on forensic evidence.”

DNA from human remains recovered at the scene matched that from known DNA belonging to Warner. Law enforcement said they were still investigating a motive behind the incident. 

The FBI also said it matched the RV's vehicle identification number to a registration belonging to Warner.

Douglas Korneski, the FBI Special-Agent-in-Charge of the Nashville Field Office, during the briefing said there are no other suspects in the explosion and credited the public for helping to determine Warner’s identity.

It is not clear whether Warner was in the camper when it blew up or if he was dead and had the bomb on a timer.

The Christmas morning explosion injured three and caused widespread communications outages that took down police emergency systems and grounded holiday travel at the city’s airport.

Police on site heard a recorded voice warning that a “bomb would detonate in 15 minutes,” Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters. Suddenly the warning stopped, and Petula Clark's 1964 hit "Downtown" started playing. Then the bomb went off.

Warner reportedly ran an alarm company at one time and was a quiet person. He also worked as a computer consultant for a Nashville real estate firm, Fridrich & Clark Realty, where he announced his retirement earlier this month. 

“The Tony Warner we knew is a nice person who never exhibited any behavior which was less than professional,” co-owner Steve Fridrich wrote in a statement.