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“We had no pre-warnings at all,” he said.
Shops and other buildings were closed given the early hour of the day, the Christmas holiday and prevailing COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, also helping to keep injuries to a minimum.
At an early evening briefing, Drake, the police chief, told reporters there were “no fatalities we know of,” but said investigators were examining “tissue that we believe could be human remains” found in the vicinity of the blast.
Police said they had not ascertained whether anyone was in the motor home when it exploded.
MOTIVE UNCLEAR
Damage to AT&T facilities from the explosion caused widespread disruptions of telephone, internet and fiber optic TV service in central Tennessee and parts of several neighboring states, including Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia, the company said.
Drake said authorities had received no threats of an attack prior to the reports of gunfire at the outset of the incident, describing the blast as a “total surprise.”
“We had no pre-warnings at all,” he said.
The explosion occurred about two blocks from Lower Broadway, where some of Nashville’s famous live music venues are located. The Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry and just three blocks from the blast scene, was undamaged. The Gaylord Opryland and current Grand Ole Opry complexes, which sit outside the downtown area, were not impacted.
“It’s a startling thing to have it happen in Nashville so close, and on Christmas, but we understand that America is in very tumultuous times right now,” country singer John Rich, who owns a honky-tonk club a block from the explosion, told Reuters.
The blast could be heard for miles and was felt at least nine blocks away, knocking one officer off his feet, Aaron said.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting in the probe, agency officials said.
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