Both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden have been briefed on the Nashville explosion, according to the White House and the Biden-Harris transition team.
‘President Trump has been briefed on the explosion in Nashville, Tennessee, and will continue to receive regular updates,’ White House spokesman Judd Deere said. ‘The President is grateful for the incredible first responders and praying for those who were injured.’
The president hasn’t otherwise mentioned the incident, as he headed to his West Palm Beach golf club with Sen. Lindsey Graham Friday morning.
Later in the afternoon Biden’s team released a statement.
‘The president-elect and Dr. Biden thank all the first responders working today in response to the incident, and wish those who were injured a speedy recovery,’ it said.
Nashville police are calling the huge explosion that shattered windows and shook the ground before dawn on Christmas morning was ‘an intentional act’ and they are now using sniffer dogs to comb the area to look for more bombs.
President Donald Trump (left) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (right) headed to the president’s West Palm Beach golf club on Christmas morning. The White House said the president has been briefed on the Nashville explosion
The Biden-Harris transition team said President-elect Joe Biden had also been briefed on the Nashville explosion. ‘The president -elect and Dr. Biden thank all the first responders working today in response to the incident, and wish those who were injured a speedy recovery,’ a statement said
This is what is left of Second Avenue in downtown Nashville after the explosion on Friday morning. Police have not yet identified a suspect
An aerial view of the scene in downtown Nashville on Friday morning after an ‘intentional’ explosion came from a parked car
The scale of the debris was enormous. All of 2nd Avenue between The entire street on second avenue was covered with it
This was the scene in downtown Nashville on Friday morning after a parked vehicle exploded
This was the scene immediately after the explosion on Friday morning in downtown Nashville
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told CNN, ‘An explosive device of this size is going to be treated presumptively as an act of terrorism.’
CNN reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation.
The explosion happened at 6:40 a.m. local time and came from a parked vehicle on Second Avenue, outside the AT&T building, between Church Street and Commerce Street – an area where there are bars, restaurants, retailers and apartments.
Forty minutes earlier, police received a call of shots fired. They got to the scene but saw no evidence of a shooting.
Instead, they ‘encountered’ what police are calling a suspicious vehicle, and called the bomb squad.
They were on their way when the blast happened.
Three people have been taken to the hospital for non-serious injuries but miraculously, no one was seriously hurt.
A police officer who was nearby at the time was knocked over by the blast and has lost his hearing.
The explosive was so intense that it’s impossible to tell whether anyone was inside the vehicle.
At a press conference shortly before 10 a.m., police spokesman Don Aaron said it was an ‘intentional act’ but he did not give any information about potential suspects or motives.
Mayor John Cooper said after surveying the scene that it ‘looks like a bomb went off’. The area has now been sealed off while police comb the area.
‘The explosion was significant as you can see from the street. The police department, its partners, the FBI and ATF are conducting a large scale investigation. We do believe the explosion was an intentional act,’ Aaron said.
In a later update, he said: ‘A number of our police dogs have been called and are searching the area. These are explosive detection dogs to make sure there are no secondary devices, out of an abundance of caution.’
‘We’re also going to be conducting searches of downtown buildings to make sure there’s no one in need of help,’ he said.
He revealed that police started evacuating people from the area before the explosion.
It’s unclear who called the police to report the suspicious vehicle or why they thought it was suspicious.
Residents reporting feeling the ground shake ten blocks away.