Anthony Quinn Warner, the bomber who detonated himself in his recreational vehicle in downtown Nashville on Christmas day reportedly told his girlfriend that he was making bombs.
The woman, Pamela Perry, had informed this to the police on August 21, 2019.
When police arrived at Perry’s home, they found two unloaded pistols near Perry, who said they belonged to Warner. She told officers she did not want them in the home any longer and that Warner was “building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence,” according to a “matter of record” kept by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
An officer observed Warner’s home for several days, but found no evidence of bomb making, according to Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake. It would have required a sign of a crime being committed, or that a bomb was being made, to obtain a legal search warrant or subpoena, Drake said.
“I believe officers did everything they could legally. Maybe we could have followed up more — hindsight is 20/20,” Drake said.
“The officers did not have probable cause to get a search warrant. There was a call for service on a lady who had two guns, who needed care, and so we, you know, she needed some assistance. There was nothing else there to say OK, yeah — you have to have probable cause.”
The explosion Friday outside an AT&T transmission building in Nashville damaged more than 40 buildings and injured at least eight people.
Warner’s remains were found at the scene. Investigators positively identified him by comparing DNA from the scene to that on gloves and a hat from a vehicle he owned.
The motive for the explosion is still unknown.
Also READ: Alien, 5G conspiracy theories motivated Nashville suspect? Investigators probe