Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Nashville Car Bomb?


Sometime just before midnight last night an SUV, parked in an Opryland Hotel parking lot used for staging equipment, exploded and killed a man. The man has not yet been publicly identified, but he's described as a 43-year old Williamson County resident. His home has been searched, but police, FBI and ATF officials haven't announced anything that I can find. The explosion happened only a couple of hundred feet from a day care center; no one was there at the time. It was said that the explosion could be heard miles away.

*** The Tennessean has updated its article as of 2:30PM to identify the man as William Glen Young of Franklin, south of Nashville. ***

So far, almost all the reports I've found spring from a single AP report. The Knoxville News-Sentinel has it here. The Commercial Appeal so far hasn't run anything.

I first discovered this story around lunch time via an ABC news story linked from FARK.com! They are also using the AP news report.

I've found the story, with basically the AP story as the frame, at three Nashville television stations. All have video and photos available of the burned-out SUV. You can go to WSMV and WKRN to see those. Interestingly, WTVF's report says that a "man standing near" was killed, implying he was an innocent. I don't know if this was simply a bad word choice on the writer's part or some unreleased information, at this point.

Locally, WMC/5 and WREG/3 have stories. It is not on the WPTY/24 site.

What I found interesting is that the ATFE and FBI were both quick to say this wasn't terrorism or terrorist-related.
FBI agent Doug Riggin said that while the resort is a popular destination, there is no reason to suspect terrorism.
"No" reason? I can think of some, but I guess he's just speaking poorly here. My guess is they spotted the white guy's body, checked his ID and made a determination.

Hopefully there will be more information by the evening news. I'll keep you posted.

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