The RV that exploded in a massive fireball in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning played Petula Clark’s classic pop song “Downtown” shortly before the explosion shook the city, a responding agent said Sunday.
Officer James Luellen, one of six hero cops who evacuated civilians from the area when the SUV with explosives sounded an audible warning, recalled hearing the vehicle’s countdown to the 1965 chart topper.
“The music started, and I got through the [police radio] air to notify other agents, ”said Luellen, along with four of his fellow agents in a press conference on Sunday. “Then, after the song, it went back to the announcement for a while.”
Luellen said he did not immediately recognize the tune, but memorized it enough to later ask another responder from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“What I remembered was, ‘Downtown, where the lights shine bright,’” he said. “Later, the ATF agent I spoke to pulled it up, and … ‘Downtown’ by Petula Clark was the specific song that was playing.”
Upon completion of the recorded warning to evacuate the area, the RV exploded in a shower of shrapnel and flames, destroying parts of nearby buildings and injuring three people.
Suspicious human remains have been found among the wreckage, and police are investigating whether they belong to the RV’s possible owner, Anthony Quinn Warner.
Investigators are reportedly investigating whether Warner, a 63-year-old computer expert, deliberately detonated the RV outside an AT&T building in an area – hindering local cell service – due to paranoia over 5G technology and alleged government wiretapping .