Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 27, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A2 N ASHVILLE - U.S. federal agents converged Saturday on the home of a possible person of interest in the explosion that rocked downtown Nashville as investigators scoured hun- dreds of tips and leads in the blast that damaged dozens of buildings on Christ- mas morning. More than 24 hours after the explo- sion, a motive remained elusive as in- vestigators worked round-the-clock to resolve unanswered questions about a recreational vehicle that blew up on a mostly deserted street on a sleepy holi- day morning and was prefaced by a re- corded warning advising those nearby to evacuate. The attack, which damaged an AT&T building, continued to wreak havoc Sat- urday on cellphone service and police and hospital communications in several Southern states. Investigators from multiple federal and local law enforcement agencies were at a home in Antioch, in suburban Nashville, after receiving information relevant to the investigation, said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack. Another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing inves- tigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said investigators regard a person associ- ated with the property as a person of interest. Federal agents could be seen look- ing around the property, searching the home and the backyard. A Google Maps image had shown a similar recreational vehicle parked in the backyard when the photo was captured in May 2019; an AP reporter at the scene did not see the vehicle at the property in the late after- noon Saturday. There were other signs of progress in the investigation, as the FBI revealed that it was looking at a number of indi- viduals who may be connected to it. Of- ficials also said no additional explosive devices have been found - indicating no active threat to the area. Investiga- tors have received around 500 tips and leads. "It's just going to take us some time," Douglas Korneski, the special agent in charge in charge of the FBI's Memphis field office, said at a Saturday after- noon news conference. "Our investiga- tive team is turning over every stone" to understand who did this and why. Beyond that, the only known casu- alties were three injured people. The infrastructure damage, meanwhile, was broadly felt, due to an AT&T cen- tral office being affected by the blast. Police emergency systems in Tennes- see, Kentucky and Alabama, as well as Nashville's COVID-19 community hot- line and a handful of hospital systems, remained out of service. The building contained a telephone exchange, with network equipment in it - but the company has declined to say exactly how many people have been impacted. Asked whether the AT&T building could have been a possible target, Korneski said, "We're looking at ev- ery possible motive that could be in- volved." Investigators shut down the heart of downtown Nashville's tourist scene - an area packed with honky-tonks, res- taurants and shops - as they shuffled through broken glass and damaged buildings to learn more about the explo- sion. Nashville Mayor John Cooper has en- forced a curfew in the downtown area until today via executive order to limit public access to the area. More than 40 buildings were affected. AT&T said restoration efforts are fac- ing several challenges, which include a fire that "reignited overnight and led to the evacuation of the building." This has forced their teams to work with safety and structural engineers and drilling access holes into the building in order to reconnect power. "Our teams continue to work around the clock on recovery efforts from yes- terday morning's explosion in Nash- ville," the company said in a Saturday statement. "We have two portable cell sites operating in downtown Nashville with numerous additional portable sites being deployed in the Nashville area and in the region." Ray Neville, president of technology at T-Mobile, said on Twitter that ser- vice disruptions affected Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham and Atlanta. "We continue to see service interrup- tions in these areas following yester- day's explosion. Restoration efforts con- tinue around the clock & we will keep you updated on progress," he said in a tweet Saturday. The outages had even briefly ground- ed flights at the Nashville International Airport, but service was continuing normally as of Saturday. The Federal Aviation Association has since issued a temporary flight restriction around the airport, requiring pilots to follow strict procedures until Dec. 30. According to Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake, police officers re- sponded on Friday to a report of shots fired when they encountered the RV blaring a recorded warning that a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes. Police evacuated nearby buildings and called in the bomb squad. The RV exploded shortly afterward. - The Associated Press A 2 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SUNDAY 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6 PHOTO REPRINTS 204-697-7064 SWITCHBOARD 204-697-7000 ADVERTISING 204-697-7122 FP.Advertising@freepress.mb.ca EDITORIAL NEWSROOM 204-697-7301 HOW TO REACH US Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 VOL. 150 NO. 48 INSIDE Local news A3 World A4-7 Entertainment A8,9 Miss Lonelyhearts A9 Sunday Special A10 Sports A12 Comics A14 Diversions A15,16 Horoscope A16 Television A16 2020 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 The people in these photos are of interest to police and may be able to provide investigators with information about the offences. These images are released for identification purposes only. The people pictured may or may not be responsible for the crimes indicated. If you are able to identify anyone pictured, call Winnipeg Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (204-786-8477), text TIP170 and your mes- sage to CRIMES (274637) or send a secure tip online at winnipegcrimestoppers.org. CLICK ? WINNIPEG CRIME STOPPERS Incident 1065 WHEN: July 24, 2020 WHERE: 1200 block of Henderson Highway Images of two males breaking into an apartment block were captured on security cameras. The sus- pects entered the office and other locked rooms before fleeing in an older Chevrolet Impala. Incident 1066 WHEN: July 21, 2020 WHERE: 800 block of Leila Avenue The woman shown here was at a hardware store on Leila Avenue, picked up a power tool and left the store without paying. She fled the area on a bicycle with a male. PHOTOS BY MARK HUMPHREY / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Investigators walk Saturday near the scene of an explosion that shook the largely deserted downtown streets of Nashville, Tenn., early Friday morning, damaging dozens of buildings and disrupting cellular communications. FBI 'turning over every stone' in search for answers Home target of Nashville explosion probe KIMBERLEE KRUESI, ERIC TUCKER AND MICHAEL BALSAMO MARK HUMPHREY / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. federal agents searched a home in Antioch, in suburban Nashville, Saturday afternoon. A_02_Dec-27-20_FP_01.indd A2 2020-12-26 10:01 PM ;