Major explosion in downtown Nashville

[marting]

Seems pretty elaborate for a suicide. And it isn't all that easy to put it together. While that may also be a consequence, the guy was trying to make some other point. Like to know what sort of bomb he cobbled together. Fuel air with propane? Would that do the level of damage seen?

 

[angrysoba]

Just my opinion, but I believe that suicide is behind this, and, I believe it is, in the end, about a tragic story.

It could be... but then again, not all suicides involve other people. If this is a suicide, it is at best a massively reckless one in which many other people could have been killed or ended up with massively life-changing injuries. So **** that guy!

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

Would that do the level of damage seen?

Is there an accurate accounting of what the damage actually is? Blowing the fascia off of residential buildings doesn't require that much of a bomb.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Seems pretty elaborate for a suicide. And it isn't all that easy to put it together. While that may also be a consequence, the guy was trying to make some other point. Like to know what sort of bomb he cobbled together. Fuel air with propane? Would that do the level of damage seen?

As I said earlier people are often weird and overly dramatic.

Again this is a world where someone had a row with the local zoning commission and his mind went to "Build a giant armored Killdozer and rampage through the town" instead... *checks notes* nearly literally any other method of revenge which would have been easier.

And we live in a world where a Pizza Parlor became a "legitimate" target because of a child sex dungeon that didn't exist in its basement which... also didn't exist.

So neither the method nor the target making a single bit of sense doesn't mean that's not exactly what happened.

 

[Trebuchet]

The conspiracy theorists are all over this. Presently trending: a completely phony claim that AT&T had "won a contract" to audit the Georgia election ballots and the audit was being conducted in that building in Nashville, for reasons.

On this very forum in one of the election conspiracy threads, even. By just who you probably think.

 

[cullennz]

Thinking about it more deeply, it could explain why Trump's election win was robbed off him.

I mean think about it.

"RV"

"Robbed Victory"?

"AT&T"

"Atrocious Treason and Trump"?

 

[Elvis666]

Is there an accurate accounting of what the damage actually is? Blowing the fascia off of residential buildings doesn't require that much of a bomb.

According to local news, 41 buildings were damaged, one of which collapsed completely. The AT&T switching building was damaged, resulting in loss of 911 service in local counties and parts of neighboring states, problems for some hospitals' communications, and local cell service. Many loft apartments were damaged inside and out. Multiple shops and restaurants were severely damaged by water as a result of broken mains. The warning from the RV and actions by the police on the scene are the only reasons multiple people weren't severely injured or killed.

ETA: I live in Nashville, so that's almost all the local news has covered since yesterday morning.

 

[JoeMorgue]

So "Police are searching for a suspect in a suspect suicide bombing...."

Does that mean they are trying to find another suspect in the bombing or trying to track down this guy to see if he's still alive and therefore not the guy who's remains they found?

 

[Meadmaker]

Is there an accurate accounting of what the damage actually is? Blowing the fascia off of residential buildings doesn't require that much of a bomb.

It wasn't a residential area. It was restaurants and shops and, apparently an AT&T building. I saw a Hooters sign on the street showing bomb damage.

However, that doesn't change your main point. Blowing out windows doesn't require all that much.

I did see that there were several cars that appeared to be destroyed beyond repair in the neighborhood of the bomb blast, so it wasn't firecrackers. It seems somewhere between the size of the Boston Marathon bombs and the Oklahoma City bomb.

 

[Meadmaker]

According to local news, 41 buildings were damaged, one of which collapsed completely.

Or maybe it was just as big as the Oklahoma City bomb.

 

[Elagabalus]

Suicide is tragic.

Suicide where you decide to blow up a car bomb in a crowded city area endangering countless lives (regardless of how "careful" you are about it) is not.

My sympathy for suicide victims ends when they start to endanger other people.

I'm leaning toward suicide with my only quibble being that the AT&T building is much bigger than I originally thought. So it's possible that it's a domestic terrorist/suicide.

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

According to local news, 41 buildings were damaged, one of which collapsed completely. The AT&T switching building was damaged, resulting in loss of 911 service in local counties and parts of neighboring states, problems for some hospitals' communications, and local cell service. Many loft apartments were damaged inside and out. Multiple shops and restaurants were severely damaged by water as a result of broken mains. The warning from the RV and actions by the police on the scene are the only reasons multiple people weren't severely injured or killed.

ETA: I live in Nashville, so that's almost all the local news has covered since yesterday morning.

Thanks for the info.

But for marting's question about what kind of bomb was required, the answer is still "lots of kinds of bombs could have done this".

 

[Meadmaker]

I'm leaning toward suicide with my only quibble being that the AT&T building is much bigger than I originally thought. So it's possible that it's a domestic terrorist/suicide.

It's almost certainly a suicide bombing. The only question is whether there is an identifiable motive. Was there a target? Was the motive purely personal? As in, "I hate the world because I have no friends and my wife left me." or is it, "Somebody had to take this war directly to AT&T, to punish them for their role in the War on Christmas!"

If he just wanted to kill himself, there are easier ways to do it that don't require such elaborate preparations, and won't damage property or risk injury or death to others. He clearly wanted to do something that had some other effect that ending his own miserable existence, but what? So far, there are no clues available to those of us who depend on publicly released information.

The warning announcement is one that doesn't seem to have any similarity with previous terrorist incidents, so it's hard to find an analogous situation.

 

[Elagabalus]

It's almost certainly a suicide bombing. The only question is whether there is an identifiable motive. Was there a target? Was the motive purely personal? As in, "I hate the world because I have no friends and my wife left me." or is it, "Somebody had to take this war directly to AT&T, to punish them for their role in the War on Christmas!"

If he just wanted to kill himself, there are easier ways to do it that don't require such elaborate preparations, and won't damage property or risk injury or death to others. He clearly wanted to do something that had some other effect that ending his own miserable existence, but what? So far, there are no clues available to those of us who depend on publicly released information.

The warning announcement is one that doesn't seem to have any similarity with previous terrorist incidents, so it's hard to find an analogous situation.

Like I said, he and the wife hatch a plan to rid the world of 5G, they carry out the plan, both are exhausted and start bickering(like they always do), he shoots her, leaves her in the "RV" sets the bomb off and heads to the local junk yard for the "Charlie Varrick*" ending.


*the of the most awesomest endings in all of filmdom!!

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

If he just wanted to kill himself, there are easier ways to do it that don't require such elaborate preparations, and won't damage property or risk injury or death to others. He clearly wanted to do something that had some other effect that ending his own miserable existence, but what? So far, there are no clues available to those of us who depend on publicly released information.

The problem with suicide is that it isn't really rational. It is emotional or psychological. It results when a person gets locked into an idea that this is the only solution. And the solution may be specific.

I think he got locked into the idea that he had to blow himself to smithereens and had to do it in downtown Nashville. The motivations for those choices are likely personal.

I think he did not want to hurt anyone or to cause any major destruction to Nashville. He probably chose the location because he identified strongly with downtown Nashville and chose that as the place to die.

He doesn't want to harm anyone else or cause any major destruction to the city he loves. But he is set on blowing himself up in a huge explosion in downtown Nashville. So he creates the warning to try to avoid hurting anyone and chooses a location at a fairly non-descript downtown street to avoid hurting the city.

 

[Checkmite]

Buff right out, I'm sure.

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

It wasn't a residential area. It was restaurants and shops and, apparently an AT&T building. I saw a Hooters sign on the street showing bomb damage.

About the "residential area" part. I've heard some reports of people quoted along the lines of "I looked out my window and saw the RV". So was this a mixed use area that included some residences?

 

[Meadmaker]

About the "residential area" part. I've heard some reports of people quoted along the lines of "I looked out my window and saw the RV". So was this a mixed use area that included some residences?

Must have been, because I also heard that apartment buildings were damaged.

In one of the trendy suburbs near me there has been a pattern of new construction featuring multi-level apartment buildings with shops and restaurants on the street level. Maybe this area is something like that.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

I wonder why the RV license plate didn't lead directly to perpetrator. The guy had the RV for many years.

Unlicensed? Fake plates? No plates?

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

[qimg]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqNnQzfXUAYKxn_.jpg[/qimg]

[qimg]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqNnQzfXMAAoakJ.jpg[/qimg]

Buff right out, I'm sure.

Good photos. Those show far more destruction than what pictures from other news agencies showed.

This was a big bomb.