Nashville explosion: Police looked into bomb activity at Anthony Warner’s house 16 months before bombing

NASHVILLE — Officers were called to Anthony Quinn Warner’s house on a tip that he was building bombs in his camper 16 months before he drove a recreational vehicle into downtown Nashville and exploded a bomb, knocking out telecommunications to the southeast, killing himself and injuring three others, according to a police report.

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According to the report, Warner’s girlfriend told Nashville Metro police Aug. 21, 2019, that “he was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence,” the Tennessean reported.

When police arrived to the girlfriend’s home, about a mile and a half from Warner’s, she was sitting on the porch with two unloaded guns. She turned them over to authorities. She said the guns belonged to Warner and she did not want them in her house any longer. She then told officers about Warner building bombs in the camper.

Raymond Throckmorton III, who was the girlfriend’s attorney at the time and at one time also represented Warner, called police for her. The call was prompted because she was worried Warner would harm her and she feared for her safety.

Throckmorton told police “(Warner) frequently talks about the military and bomb making,” and that “(he) knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb.”

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Officers went to Warner’s house but the camper was behind a fence. Police noted there were several security cameras and wires attached to an alarm sign.

“They saw no evidence of a crime and had no authority to enter his home or fenced property,” Don Aaron, Nashville police spokesperson, told the Tennessean.

Officer’s supervisors and detectives were notified. The Nashville police department’s hazardous devices unit was given a copy of the report. It was also sent to the FBI in order to check its databases about Warner, Aaron said.

“The FBI reported back that they checked their holdings and found no records on Warner at all,” Aaron said.

It was a standard record check for the FBI, an agency spokesperson said.

The Department of Defense also reported Aug. 28, 2019, that their check on Warner was negative.

The FBI said police called Throckmorton the week of Aug. 26, 2019, but he declined to let officers interview or go on Warner’s property, The Tennessean reported. Nashville police also said that Throckmorton would not allow Warner to give consent to officers for a visual inspection of the camper.

Throckmorton disputes this. He said that while he represented Warner in a civil matter, he was no longer his attorney in August 2019.

“The FBI reported back that they checked their holdings and found no records on Warner at all,” Throckmorton told the Tennessean. “Somebody, somewhere dropped the ball.”

Nashville police said Warner showed no evidence of a crime.

“At no time was there any evidence of a crime detected and no additional action was taken,” he said. “No additional information about Warner came to the department’s or the FBI’s attention after August 2019.”

Warner’s only previous arrest was for marijuana possession in 1978, the Tennessean reported.

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