On December 25 (Christmas Day), 2020, Anthony Quinn Warner detonated a recreational vehicle (RV) bomb in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States, killing himself and injuring eight others, damaging dozens of buildings in the surrounding area. The incident took place at 166 Second Avenue North between Church Street and Commerce Street at 6:30 am, adjacent to an AT&T network facility, resulting in days-long communication service outages.
People near the RV heard gunshots, and loudspeakers on the RV warned those in the area to evacuate before the bombing, which was felt miles away. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined that Warner, a Nashville resident, was the bomber and acted alone.
The explosion was caused by a car bomb carried in a Thor Motor Coach Chateau RV that had been parked at 1:22 am on December 25, 2020, outside an AT&T network facility on Second Avenue North in downtown Nashville. Four to five hours after the RV arrived, people nearby were awakened by the sound of rapid gunfire in at least three bursts, followed by a computerized female voice broadcasting over a public address system: "All buildings in this area must be evacuated now. If you can hear this message, evacuate now." "Stay clear of this vehicle", "Do not approach this vehicle", and "Your primary objective is to evacuate these buildings now" were also among the messages broadcast from the RV. The broadcast warned that there was a bomb in the vehicle, a 15-minute countdown elapsed, and the speakers switched to snippets from the 1964 song "Downtown" by Petula Clark.
Responding to reports of shots being fired at around 5:30 am, two police officers arrived at the area. They did not hear any shots, but they discovered the parked vehicle and heard the warning. They and three other responding officers subsequently evacuated homes in the area and called in reinforcements, including the hazardous devices unit (bomb squad), while a sixth officer stayed on the street to redirect pedestrians. Two of the officers investigated the RV at one point and observed a camera positioned above its rearview mirror. The vehicle exploded at 6:30 am, while the bomb squad was on its way to the area.
Eight people were treated at hospitals for injuries and later discharged. Three of them sustained non-critical injuries, including two of the officers who had been evacuating residents. The bomber died at the scene; no other fatalities were reported.
One video posted to social media appeared to show debris from the bombing landing on a building about two blocks away from the initial location. At least three vehicles burned after the bombing, at least 41 businesses were damaged, and one building across the street from the site of the bombing collapsed. Structural engineers deemed some of the buildings in the area to be safe by December 29.
The bombing caused structural and infrastructure damage to a nearby AT&T service facility, which contained a telephone exchange with network equipment in it, resulting in AT&T service outages across the U.S., primarily in Middle Tennessee. Although the facility's backup generators were rendered nonfunctional because of fire and water damage, communication services initially remained uninterrupted as the facility continued to run on battery power. But outages were reported hours after the explosion, with significant service disruptions in the area by noon. Cellular, wireline telephone, internet, and U-verse television services were affected, as were multiple local 911 and non-emergency phone networks in the region, along with Nashville's COVID-19 community hotline and some hospital systems. T-Mobile also reported interruptions to its service. The Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center experienced communication issues, leading the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground flights from Nashville International Airport for about an hour.
Outages continued to affect communication services, including Internet, phone, and 911 service, for days after the bombing. Some stores reported switching to a cash-only policy because credit card systems were out of service, and issues with ATMs were reported. AT&T mentioned deploying two mobile cell sites downtown by the next morning, with additional ones deployed throughout Nashville by evening, but gave no specific timeline for full restoration of service, adding that a fire that reignited during the night led to an evacuation of the building. Officials later said a full service restoration could take days.
After the bombing, a bomb squad, along with police and federal investigators, arrived at the site to gather evidence and determine what type of explosive was used in the blast. Authorities swept the area and found no additional explosives. Investigators found shell casings in the area but believed they were remnants of unfired ammunition that was destroyed in the explosion. No evidence was found confirming gunshots were fired in the area despite the initial 911 calls.
Human remains found near the site of the explosion matched DNA found on gloves and a hat found in a car owned by Anthony Quinn Warner; a 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) reconstructed from the RV's remains was also linked to Warner. Investigators determined the act was a suicide bombing, and Mayor John Cooper called it an attack on infrastructure. Hours of surveillance camera footage indicated that no one other than Warner was involved. Warner's friends and family cooperated with investigators.
The FBI field office in Memphis led the investigation, which also involved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and local law enforcement agencies. More than 250 FBI personnel from at least seven field offices were involved. A reward for any information about the bombing was announced shortly into the investigation; more than 500 tips and leads were received.
Authorities concluded that 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner, a longtime Nashville resident, was the bomber, that his remains were found in the wreckage, and that there was no indication anyone else was involved.
Warner was raised in Nashville's Antioch neighborhood and graduated from Antioch High School in the mid-1970s. His father, Charles Bernard Warner, had been a BellSouth employee in Nashville, which merged with AT&T in 2006. Anthony Warner worked in a series of information technology jobs, including as an independent computer technician contracted with a real estate firm, and had owned a company licensed to produce burglar alarms from 1993 to 1998. He served two years' probation for felony marijuana possession in 1978 but had no other arrests or criminal record. Late in his life, Warner was involved in a family dispute that went to court after he transferred ownership of a family home to himself directly before his brother Steve's death in 2018; the case was dismissed in 2019.
In the weeks before the bombing, Warner quit his job, gave away his car, and executed a quitclaim deed transferring his Nashville duplex home to a Los Angeles woman for $0. He had previously executed a quitclaim deed for a different Nashville house in 2019, transferring his interest in the home to the same woman. Reportedly, Warner had told the woman to whom he gave his car that he had cancer, but it is not known whether that was true. A neighbor said that just before Christmas, Warner had said, "Nashville and the world is never going to forget me." Credit card and receipt records examined by investigators showed that Warner had purchased components that could be used to make bombs.
Authorities initially said that Warner had not attracted the attention of police before the bombing, but it was later revealed that Warner's friend Pamela Perry and her attorney had met with police on August 21, 2019. Perry said that Warner had been making bombs in the RV, and her attorney, who previously represented Warner, said he believed her. Police were unable to make contact with Warner; did not enter Warner's home, yard, or RV; and closed the case as unfounded after an officer observing the home for a few days reported no evidence of bomb-making. After the visit, police forwarded an incident report to and requested a database check from the FBI. Neither the FBI nor the Department of Defense found anything suspicious regarding Warner.