BOMB WARNING
Nashville bombing: Suspect Anthony Warner’s girlfriend warned cops last YEAR that he was making a bomb in his RV
THE NASHVILLE bomber's girlfriend had warned police last year that her boyfriend had been making bombs - but nothing was done to stop him.
's girlfriend had Nashville police that he "was making bombs in the RV trailer at his residence" on August 21, 2019, but little was done in the year that passed since her tip.
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The Nashville police then pushed the tip to the FBI and the ATF, but when authorities arrived at Warren's door to search the premises, no one was home.
When they returned for a second time and were denied entry to search the property, the tip went unnoticed.
Warner was able to make bombs throughout the summer and into 2020, when his injured
The Tennessean reviewed records showing a lawyer for Warner's ex-girlfriend, Raymond Throckmorton, called police to say Warner's unnamed girlfriend was concerned about comments he had made.
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She also said she didn't want two guns that belonged to Warner in the home.
According to the records, Throckmorton told police that his client said Warner "frequently talks about the military and bomb-making."
Throckmorton told police Warner also "knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb."
"I made a report on the spot for him to get checked out and I did all that I knew I could do," Throckmorton told .
Throckmorton had represented , but believed what his girlfriend was saying.
"She was so convincing that morning, and so distraught," Throckmorton said, "that I decided in the front yard in the middle of all those police officers on the spot."
"That even though it was a former client of mine, that somebody needed to go check it out right then," he continued.
When police went to doorknock on Warren's property, they saw the RV sitting on his driving, but it was fenced off and so they were unable to inspect it further.
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The report also read that police saw "several security cameras and wires attached to an alarm sign on the front door."
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said police "saw no evidence of a crime and had no authority to enter his home or fenced property."
However, when the Nashville Police Department forwarded the tip to respective federal agencies, Aaron said ";the FBI reported back that they checked their holdings and found no records on Warner at all."
Aaron said the U.S. Department of Defense also said its "checks on Warner were all negative," on August 28, 2019.
As for the weapons in the home, Aaron "she related that the guns belonged to a 'Tony Warner' and that she did not want them in the house any longer."
A spokesperson for the department said "At no time was there any evidence of a crime detected and no additional action was taken."
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"No additional information about Warner came to the department’s or the FBI’s attention after August 2019," the statement ended.
"I am floored the report says that," Throckmorton said. "And to find that out now."
"It's pretty obvious to me that somebody didn't do what they were supposed to do," Throckmorton continued.
Police even tried saying it was Throckmorton who told Warner not to let them search the property.
"He was not a current client of mine at that point in time," the lawyer said. "I certainly would never have told them not to check it out when I'm the one who said go the hell over there and find out what's going on."
Throckmorton wasn't the only person outraged by the police department's inability to prevent such an act.
City council member Bob Mendes was furious it took almost a week for the police department to admit their error.
"Failing to mention this for five days is frustrating," Mendes .
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Law enforcement officials on Tuesday said Warner was not being surveilled as he had only one arrest on his record: a 1978 marijuana possession charge.
"He was not on our radar," Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director David B. Rausch said.
"He was not someone that was identified as a person of interest for the bureau," he continued. "So we were not familiar with this individual until this incident."
On early Christmas morning, Warner, 63, Nashville block and people to evacuate the area at around 6:30 AM.
His RV bomb, , damaged 41 buildings and disrupted communication systems throughout the Southeast.
Police are still , which seems to have been related to a recent cancer diagnosis he may have received.
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Investigators are also looking into whether in the RV at the time of his death, after
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Still, Throckmorton feels this was a major slip up by police that could have prevented the bombing from taking place.
"If somebody had checked Tony out and gotten him the help that he needed," Throckmorton said, "this would never have happened."
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