Paranoid Nashville Christmas bomber claimed he had cancer and began giving away possessions weeks before explosion at AT&T building as lead investigator says 'the intent was more destruction than death'

Christmas bomber Anthony Quinn Warner claimed to have cancer before the attack

The Nashville Christmas bomber claimed to have cancer and appeared to be winding up his affairs before launching Friday's attack outside an AT&T transmission center, which officials believe aimed to cause destruction rather than to kill.

Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, was named by the FBI on Sunday as the perpetrator of the Christmas Day bombing, after DNA showed he perished in the attack carried out with an RV rigged to explode.

The explosion took place before downtown streets were bustling with activity and was accompanied by a recorded announcement warning anyone nearby that a bomb would soon detonate. Then, for reasons that may never be known, the audio switched to a recording of Petula Clark's 1964 hit 'Downtown' shortly before the blast.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch on Monday said that the bizarre forewarning indicates that Warner did not intend to hurt anyone but himself in the attack, which injured three people and damaged more than 40 buildings.

'When you look at all the facts at this point, obviously the audio from the vehicle warning people that an explosion was imminent, the opportunity to clear the area, certainly gives you that insight that the possibility was he had no intention of harming anyone but himself,' Rausch told Today. 'It does appear that the intent was more destruction than death.'

A Sunday report from the New York Times details preparations Warner made in the weeks prior to his suicide attack, including telling his ex-girlfriend that he had cancer and giving her his car.

On December 5, he also told a real estate agent that he worked for as a tech consultant that he planned to retire, according to the newspaper.

A month before the bombing, Warner gave away the $160,000 home he lived in to a woman in California whose link to him remains unclear, DailyMail.com first reported Saturday.

Warner, 63, was named by the FBI on Sunday as perpetrator of the Christmas Day bombing outside an AT&T building, after DNA showed he perished in the attack carried out with an RV

The explosion took place before downtown streets were bustling with activity and was accompanied by a recorded announcement from the RV warning anyone nearby that a bomb would soon detonate

'Copycat' driver of box truck 'playing ANOTHER spooky message urging people to evacuate' is arrested 30 miles from RV explosion site

James Turgeon

James Turgeon, 33, sparked fears of a possible copycat attack on Sunday when he allegedly drove his box truck through Rutherford County, Tennessee, playing a recording 'similar to what was heard' before Warner's RV exploded in downtown Nashville.

The Rutherford County Sheriff's Office said Turgeon was booked on two counts of felony filing a false report and one count of tampering with evidence.

Turgeon was driving his truck from Rutherford County into Wilson County when police pulled him over on Highway 231 South, about 30 miles east of Nashville.

A bomb squad was called in to search the truck for explosives but none were found, police said.

The traffic stop took place mere hours after the same highway was closed amid reports of a truck with PA system telling people to evacuate the area.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch on Monday announced that authorities found no connection between Turgeon and the Nashville bombing.

Turgeon's motive remains unclear.

But Lane says in her lawsuit that Anthony, acting as 'attorney-in-fact' fraudulently claimed the $250,000 home for himself in an August 2018 quitclaim deed transfer.

Lifelong bachelor Anthony then mysteriously gave the home to a 29-year-old, Los Angeles-based woman named Michelle Swing, whose ties to him are unclear.

The mother-son suit appeared to have been resolved by November of this year, however, after Swing used the same transfer process to give the three-bed, single story property back to Lane, who is still residing there today.

When DailyMail.com asked the 85-year-old Lane on Sunday about her son Anthony Warner she said she could 'not talk about it'.

The retiree also posted signs in her yard warning she would call the cops if anyone trespassed on her driveway.

On Sunday afternoon, Lane was being comforted by her 59-year-old daughter Teresa Wardrop, who told DailyMail.com: 'We are not going to speak to you.'

Swing is also the woman to whom Anthony deeded his primary residence on November 25 of this year.

When DailyMail.com reached out to Swing on Sunday to confirm details of what happened in the earlier property dispute she declined to answer.

Swing also failed to respond to questions over what sort of relationship, if any, she or her family had ever had with Anthony Warner.

DailyMail.com revealed Saturday that Anthony Warner also passed on his primary residence to Swing for free, just a month before launching his bomb plot in downtown Nashville.

Swing, who has family in Knoxville and studied business and marketing at the University of Tennessee, told us she knew nothing about the acquisition despite being involved in the earlier property transfer.

Bizarrely, her cell phone number is scribbled on a note currently pinned to the back door of the neatly-kept duplex, a 15-minute drive south of central Nashville.

Warner was a retired burglar alarm installer who continued to work as a freelance IT consultant.

Neighbors described him as an eccentric loner who was often spotted tinkering with unusual antennas outside of his home in Antioch, a Nashville suburb.

The home on Bakertown Road is festooned with security cameras, spotlights, and 'no trespassing' signs, as well as odd antennas.

Lifelong bachelor Anthony Warner mysteriously gave his family's home to 29-year-old, Los Angeles-based woman Michelle Swing , whose ties to Warner are unclear

The RV used in the bombing was normally parked in this fenced-off area next to Warner's duplex in Antioch, a Nashville suburb

Warner was often spotted fiddling in his yard with odd antennas, including this one behind his house, which appears to be a ClearStream HD digital television antenna

The home was festooned with security cameras and 'no trespassing' signs, particularly in the area where Warner kept the RV parked

Several neighbors have described Warner as an 'oddball' and said they'd seen an RV parked outside the home which matched the one used in the attack.

The RV had been outside of Warner's home since at least the spring of 2019, images from Google Street View show.

Three were injured in the massive explosion early on Christmas Day, after the RV played a warning to evacuate minutes before the explosion.

In a bizarre twist, the RV's loudspeakers then blasted Petula Clark's 1964 soul hit 'Downtown' immediately before the bomb went off.

The attack devastated the heart of Nashville's tourist scene, a downtown strip packed with honky-tonks and bars.

Authorities said Warner was not known to law enforcement before the Christmas blast.

Anthony Warner told LA mother, 29, he planned to spend Christmas 'in the woods with his dogs' and warned her basement of home he gave her for free was 'not normal'

Nashville bombing suspect Anthony Quinn Warner allegedly sent a letter to Michelle Swing telling her that he had transferred ownership of his home in Antioch to her last month

Michelle Swing, the woman to whom Warner gifted his $160,000 house in November, insisted to DailyMail.com on Saturday that she had no knowledge of the transfer.

She pointed out that her signature did not appear on the quitclaim deed, saying: 'In the state of Tennessee you can deed property to someone else without their consent or their signature or anything.

'I didn't even buy the house he just deeded it over to me without my knowledge.

'This all very weird to me, that's about all I can say.'

But a new report claims that Warner informed Swing of the transfer in a strange letter last month.

'The attic has plywood and lighting, take a look. The basement is not normal, take a look,' Warner allegedly wrote in the letter described by The Sun.

He concluded with the words: 'Woof woof Julio.'

In the letter Warner also shared that he 'intended to travel on Christmas Eve to spend a few weeks in the woods with his dogs'.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Swing declined to disclose whether she had ever met Warner or if she had any family links to him, saying: 'I've been told to direct everything else to FBI.'

The Sun reported that police believe Warner may have had a relationship with Swing's mother.

The outlet said Swing told investigators that she last spoke to Warner a week before Thanksgiving and that she had never met him in person.

Warner's two properties are located just a 15 minute drive from where the bomb exploded

Swing's signature does not appear on the November 25th transfer and she told DailyMail.com she knew absolutely nothing about it

Records show Warner also transferred another home on Bakertown Road to Swing via a quitclaim deed in January 2019.

The $250,000 house had previously belonged to Warner's brother Steven, and Warner had only been in possession of it for five months before giving it to Swing for free. She later also used a quitclaim to give the house to Warner's mother, Lane.

Swing's address in the record for the transfer is listed as Lenoir City, Tennessee, a two-hour drive from Nashville.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she studied Marketing and Business and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she remained working until 2012 when she moved to California.

Swing first lived in San Francisco before a move to Los Angeles in October 2018, where she works in artist development for Anschutz Entertainment Group.

Swing's apartment building in Los Angeles is pictured above

'An oddball who had a paranoia about 5G': Anthony Warner'd neighbors say they saw him tinkering with the antenna on his roof and putting up 'No Trepassing' signs around his property

Warner is seen in an undated yearbook photo from his time at Antioch High School in Tennessee

Neighbors of Anthony Warner's home in Antioch described him as an 'oddball' as they reacted to the stunning news that he was considered a person of interest in the Nashville Christmas Day bombing.

Several neighbors had reported seeing the RV used in the explosion parked outside of Warner's home on Bakertown Road.

Tony Rodriguez, who lives within the duplex that agents raided on Saturday, told the Washington Post that he never spoke to his neighbor, 63, and did not know his name.

He alleged that Warner, who is said to be unmarried and without children, kept 'No Trespassing' signs around the home, especially around the RV, and was often seen tinkering with antenna above the house.

Rodriguez also claimed that investigators had taken a computer motherboard from Warner's house during the search.

Another neighbor Steven Stone, 61, confirmed that he had seen a similar RV parked outside of Warner's place.

'When I looked out my window and saw all the law enforcement that's when it hit me that I'd see the camper up there,' he told USA Today.

Tony Rodriguez, who lives within the duplex that agents raided on Saturday , said that he never spoke to his neighbor and did not know his name until Warner was linked to Friday's bombing

According to News4, a Nashville real estate agent contacted FBI agents after fearing the subcontractor who worked for him was who they were searching for in connection to the blast outside the AT&T transmission center.

Realtor Steve Fridrich said a man who went by Tony Warner had done IT work for him as a subcontractor.

'Nice guy. You know, he was a techie guy - don't mean anything negative about that. He would do this thing and leave. He didn't bother anybody. He did his thing and leave ,' Fridrich said.

Fridrich said he was asked by agents whether Warner had paranoia about 5G technology. He told agents they had never spoken about that.

A source close to the federal investigation told News4 that agents were probing whether Warner had paranoia that 5G technology was being used to spy on Americans.

In a different interview with the Tennessean, Fridrich said Warner 'seemed very personable to us – this is quite out of character I think'.

'In December he sent us an email saying he'd no longer be working for us,' Fridrich added.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released Warner's arrest record on Monday, revealing that he was charged with 'marijuana possession for resale' in January 1978. The Daily Beast had previously reported that Warner was convicted of an unspecified felony charge in 1980.

State records showed that Warner used his Bakertown Road address as the location of a custom alarm business which specialized in burglar alarms.

The alarm fitting license for the business, Custom Alarms Electronics, expired in 1998.

'I've never grabbed somebody so hard in my life': Hero cops who evacuated residents minutes before explosion describe their terror as FBI probes whether bomber targeted police

Friday's blast emanated from a white RV parked outside the AT&T building on 2nd Avenue at 6.40 am. The explosion injured three people and caused severe damage to the city's downtown area.

Cops had been called to the area around 6am following reports of shots fired.

They arrived to find no evidence of a shooting but instead encountered the RV, which was playing a recording of a woman's voice warning that it would explode in 15 minutes. Suddenly the warning stopped, and 'Downtown' started playing.

Petula Clark's 'Downtown'

Verse 1 - When you're alone and life is making you lonely; You can always go downtown; When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry; Seems to help, I know, downtown

Pre- - Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city; Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty; How can you lose? The lights are much brighter there; You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares

- So go downtown; Things will be great when you're downtown; No finer place for sure, downtown; Everything's waiting for you

Verse 2 - Don't hang around and let your problems surround you; There are movie shows downtown; Maybe you know some little places to go to; Where they never close downtown

Pre- - Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova; You'll be dancing with 'em too before the night is over; Happy again; The lights are much brighter there; You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares

- So go downtown; Where all the lights are bright, downtown; Waiting for you tonight, downtown; You're gonna be alright now, downtown

Instrumental Break w/ Backing

Pre- - And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you; Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to; Guide them along; So maybe I'll see you there; We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares

- So go downtown; Things will be great when you're downtown; Don't wait a minute more, downtown; Everything is waiting for you, downtown

- Downtown ; Downtown ; Downtown ; Downtown

Petula Clark is pictured in March 2020

Six responding officers who rushed to evacuate the area have been hailed as heroes for their quick efforts in the face of grave danger. They are: Officers Brenna Hosey, James Luellen, Michael Sipos, Amanda Topping, James Wells and Sergeant Timothy Miller.

Five of the officers described their version of events at a press conference on Sunday morning.

Officer Luellen said he arrived at the scene first and scoped out the building where gunshots were reported, finding now evidence of gunfire.

Hosey arrived soon after, at which point both officers heard the recording coming from the vehicle.

'There's a large bomb within this vehicle, your primary objective is to evacuate,' Luellen quoted a woman's voice as saying.

'I looked at Officer Hosey just to verify we heard the same thing, and then it started over,' he said.

Luellen said he reported the audio to his supervisor, Sgt Miller, who ordered the deployment of all available units and instructed officers to evacuate the area.

Minutes later the RV started playing a three-minute countdown, followed by 'Downtown', Luellen said. He said all the shades were down on the vehicle, which didn't have a tag.

Then came the explosion, which knocked Luellen to the ground before he ran over to check on another officer who was sitting in a squad car and became trapped when its airbag activated in the blast.

Officer Wells described hearing a voice from God which told him to check on his partner Topping seconds before the blast went off, throwing him backward.

Topping said she sprinted to Wells and the pair ran for cover in a doorway.

'I've never grabbed somebody so hard in my life,' Topping said, her voice shaking with emotion.

Wells said that EMTs tried to take him to the hospital for examination, but he convinced them to let him go and focus their efforts on the three reported injuries. He said he couldn't imagine leaving his fellow officers behind after such a terrifying ordeal.

'This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life,' Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told reporters at the news conference. 'Christmas will never be the same.'

Officer Hosey said she and her colleagues knocked on six or seven doors in nearby apartments to warn people to evacuate. She particularly remembered a startled mother of four children.

'I don't have kids but I have cousins and nieces, people who I love who are small,' Hosey said, adding she had to plead with the family to leave the building as quickly as possible.

Each of the officers described how they called loved ones to assure that they were okay before news of the explosion reached the media.

The FBI is said to be investigating whether the blast was deliberately designed to target law enforcement officers.

One expert theorized that the spooky recording was designed to bring as many cops and first responders as possible into the area with the intention of killing or maiming them.

'I kind of think it was probably an idea to get first responders to come in,' ex-NYPD Detective Bill Ryan told Fox News on Saturday.

Six officers who responded to the scene moments before the explosion have been hailed as heroes for their efforts to evacuate the area. Pictured (clockwise from top left): Officer Amanda Topping, Officer Michael Sipos, Officer Richard Luellen, Officer James Wells, Sergeant Timothy Miller and Officer Brenna Hosey

At a press conference on Sunday Officer Richard Luellen described his efforts to evacuate the area on Friday

Officers Amanda Topping and James Wells talked about running for cover together when the bomb went off

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick. Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o

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