PICTURED: RV that exploded outside Nashville AT&T

There are widespread internet and cell phone outages in Nashville that have been linked to a bomb going off outside the AT&T building at 6am on Friday morning. 

The bomb was inside an RV that exploded on Second Avenue, between Church and Commerce Street, at 6.40am. 

Police were already on the scene and evacuating people after being called to the area forty minutes earlier amid reports of shots fired. When they got there, there were no obvious signs of a shooting but the RV was playing an announcement that it would explode in 15 minutes. 

They rushed to get people out of their homes while the ominous, pre-recorded message played over and over again. 

The FBI is investigating but so far no suspect or motive has been identified. Police do not even know if someone was inside the RV when it blew up because the blast was so intense that it was completely obliterated along with everything inside of it. 

At around noon local time, people started reported having issues with their internet and phone signal. 

It’s unclear if the AT&T building was the target of the bomb but the vehicle was parked outside it. There are also bars, restaurants and apartments nearby which had not yet opened. 

Three people were taken to the hospital with non-serious injuries.   

‘We do not know whether anyone was in the RV when it exploded. I can’t tell you if there’s a potential for that scenario,’ police spokesman Don Aaron said at a press conference on Friday afternoon. 

At a press conference shortly before 10am, 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, it’s 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 ad 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.’ 

FBI Special Agent in charge Matt Foster made a plea to the public for information. 

‘The FBI stands with the city of Nashville today in this very tragic Christmas Day event.

‘This is our city too. We live here, we work here. We’re putting everything we have into finding who was responsible for what happened here today.  

‘There are leads that need to be pursued and technical works need to happen.’ 

Anyone with information about the incident has been asked to contact the FBI at www.fbi.gov/nashville or by calling them.  

‘If you know anything about what has happened, we’d appreciate your help.

‘Please tell us what you know – we need your help,’ Foster 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. 

The blast caused damage to downtown buildings like broken windows, but no injuries have been reported and no serious harm was caused.   

‘There is an incident involving an explosion. This is an active scene. Metro Nashville Police Department and Nashville Fire Department are on the scene. 

‘There are no additional details to provide at this time,’ the Nashville Fire Department said in a statement. 

Within minutes of the blast, social media lit up with people reporting that they felt it and the ground ‘shaking’. 

Other videos emerged of small, break-out fires and people screaming in the street but miraculously no one has been seriously injured. 

Mayor Cooper said he believes the fact it was Christmas Day means there were fewer casualties. 

Speaking with assembled media later in the morning, mayor John Cooper said the area was filled with ‘a lot of broken glass and insulation that has been blown up into trees’.

He added that broken mains were sending water flooding out into the street.

‘It looks like a bomb went off,’ he said.

Cooper claimed the city’s Downtown area was quieter on Christmas morning than on other days as most residents were still asleep and were not headed out to work.

He believed that helped minimize the number of people left injured in the blast.