The girlfriend of suspected Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner reportedly told police he was building a bomb more than a year ago

Anthony Quinn Warner nashville bomb explosion
This undated image posted on social media by the FBI shows Anthony Quinn Warner.
  • An August 2019 police report uncovered by The Tennessean found that the girlfriend of suspected Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner had previously told authorities that she believed he was making a bomb in his RV. 
  • Nashville police visited Warner's property at the time but did not find him at home. They did observe the RV in his backyard but were not able to see into it. 
  • Police made an inquiry into Warner with the FBI and Department of Defense following their visit, but both organizations said they had no record of him.
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The girlfriend of suspected Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner spoke to police more than sixteen months ago about her boyfriend, according to new documents obtained by The Tennesseean. 

The Tennesseean uncovered a Metro Nashville Police Department report from April 2019 in which Warner's girlfriend, who has not been named, told police he "was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence."  

Police had been called to the girlfriend's Antioch, Tennessee, home after her lawyer, Raymond Throckmorton III, became concerned over comments she had made. Throckmorton had previously served as counsel for Warner in a civil matter but did not represent him in August of 2019. According to documents seen by The Tennesseean, he told officers at the time Warner "frequently talks about the military and bomb-making," and "knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb."

After speaking with Throckmorton and Warner's girlfriend, police stopped by Warner's Bakertown Lane home and observed an RV in his backyard. According to the report seen by The Tennessean, it was fenced off, and officers were unable to see into it. They did note that it was surrounded by "several security cameras and wires attached to a[n] alarm sign on the front door."

According to The New York Times, a report of the incident and an inquiry into Warner was forwarded to the FBI and the Defense Department. Both organizations reported that they had no records of Warner. 

Authorities are still speculating about what motivated Warner, but David B. Rausch, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, told "The TODAY Show" on Monday, "it does appear that the intent was more destruction than death."

Warner was the only casualty in the blast, though several people reported injuries.

Rausch insisted that Warner had not previously been under investigation by the bureau.

"He was not on our radar," he told "TODAY." "He was not someone that was identified as a person of interest for the bureau. So we were not familiar with this individual until this incident."   

"It's pretty obvious to me that somebody didn't do what they were supposed to do," Throckmorton told News Channel 5.

The bomb's explosion was captured in police bodycam footage early on Christmas morning by several officers who had been called to the scene. 

"It kind of looked like a big prop from a movie scene, all the glass breaking at once," Officer Amanda Topping said at a press conference on Sunday.  

The RV blast took place outside of an AT&T facility and caused damage to more than 40 buildings.  

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