At around 6:30 in the morning on December 25, 2020, a RV parked outside of the AT&T building in Nashville, Tennessee played a recorded message saying, “Evacuate now, there is a bomb in this vehicle that will explode.” The message was followed by a 15 minute countdown. At the end of the countdown, an explosion went off, completely destroying and causing destruction to 41 other buildings and causing wide communication outages. There were a total of 8 injuries, all nonfatal. There was only one death, Anthony Quinn Warner, the man who caused the explosion.

In the months before, 63 year old Warner showed lots of signs to suggest he knew he was not going to walk out of the RV alive. He gave away his car while telling the receiver he had cancer, he quit his freelance job, and even gave away his house for nothing in return. A week before the event, Warner’s neighbor, Rick Laude, shared a soon to be haunting conversation between the two. Luade told the Associated Press that he saw his neighbor standing outside by his mailbox, so he stopped to talk. They shared a normal conversation until Luade asked, “Is Santa going to bring you anything good for Christmas?” To which Warner simply smiled and replied, “Oh, yeah, Nashville and the world is never going to forget me.”  Warner’s motive is still unclear, but it seems he wasn’t aiming to hurt anyone, hence the warning. It appears the bomb was more directed to damage the buildings. The explosion could be heard and felt up to a couple miles away. Efforts are currently being made to help people who were affected by the bombing, like the “I Believe in Nashville” campaign which is raising money and resources for those in need. Some businesses are still trying to recover, while some have already reopened and are ready for customers.