At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Arlington County, Va., officials shared additional information about the bizarre home explosion that occurred in the Ballston neighborhood last night.
According to Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn, the individual who was in the home at the time of the explosion is deceased. Fire officials found human remains in the house and believe that they belong to the suspect, James Yoo, 56, who owns the home. However, DNA tests have not yet confirmed the identity of the remains. "All factors point to that is this individual, but that has to be confirmed, and it's going to take time to confirm that as well."
Penn said the ACPD was called to the home at 844 N. Burlington Street at approximately 4:45 p.m. for reports of possible shots fired. "On-scene investigation revealed that a male suspect discharged a flare-type gun from the residence more than 30 times," he said. "Officers attempted to engage with the suspect without success. A search warrant was ultimately obtained to allow our officers to secure any weapons to ensure there would be no ongoing threat to the community."
It's not clear why police needed a warrant to enter the home of someone firing a flare gun from the residence. Nevertheless, "members of the emergency response team initially attempted to execute the warrant through various forms of communications with the suspect. However, this was not successful."
They deployed "non-flammable, less lethal chemical munitions to multiple areas within the residence where the suspect was believed to be hiding" in the hope that he would surrender.
Police say their only past interactions with Yoo were to address "calls for service for loud noise" over the past couple of years.
"We are aware of concerning social media posts allegedly made by the suspect and these will be reviewed as part of the ongoing criminal investigation," Penn added.
Prior to the blast, residents of the area were evacuated for their safety, and fire officials turned off the gas to the home. There is no timeline for the investigation, but officials said debris was found "several streets over based on topography," and 10-12 homes were damaged.
Related: We're Learning More About the Owner of the House That Exploded—and It's Disturbing
Jason Jenkins, the Arlington County assistant fire chief, said that "suppression efforts" continued throughout the night and into the early morning. "At this point, the fire is completely extinguished."
Asked by reporters why the area was evacuated prior to the explosion, Jenkins said that it was done at around 7 p.m. to protect residents of the neighborhood, including the people who lived in the other half of the duplex.
"Again, in an attempt to mitigate or save lives, anything is possible," he said. "So in that particular instance, where an individual had barricaded themselves, we took the necessary steps to remove neighbors in case something such as this, as unfortunate as this, would occur."
A reporter observed, "It seems like you were fearful something was going to happen."
"Again, this is in an attempt to mitigate risk," he explained. "So Fire Department personnel turned off the gas at the meter to the address, indicating that there could be an explosion or material in the house. There was nothing that led us to believe—we anticipate the worst, and we save lives. So, in an effort to save lives, we remove occupants, neighbors, and so forth in case something like this were to occur."
The police chief added, "There were actions from everybody on the scene to make sure that we were doing everything we possibly could to ensure the safety of everybody in that area in this community."
"It was very much in the forefront to make sure that we evacuated people that we could and to make sure that the entire scene was as safe as it could be," he continued. "I'm not going to get into any points for the investigation. We're very early in the investigation. As Chief Jenkins mentioned, the fire burned well into the night, so, you know, we're starting our evidence recovery work at this point."
Aaron Miller, the deputy county manager for public safety for Arlington County, said that there were around ten households that were impacted by the explosion. His department is working with those residents and offering basic needs like toiletries and mental health services to those who need them.
Dave Sundberg, the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office of the FBI, said the agency is assisting and coordinating with local officials and providing resources "to confirm that this was an isolated incident and that there is no ongoing threat to the community or to other communities."
"When the incident occurred last night, the FBI sent special agent bomb technicians along with our other federal partners, as well as investigative agents, to support our law enforcement partners here in the local community and to assess the scene and provide technical support," he said.
As PJ Media reported last night, the suspect had previously communicated with the FBI via phone calls, online tips, and letters over a number of years. "I would characterize these communications as primarily complaints about alleged frauds he believed were perpetrated against him," he said.
However, "The information contained therein and the nature of this communications did not lead to opening any FBI investigations."
Craig Kalama, special agent in charge for the ATF Washington Field Division, said they now have "canines, bomb techs from both field divisions, and fire arson experts on scene. We will be here for the duration providing assistance. Currently right now we are conducting a grid search of the location with our partners to determine the cause and origin" of the explosion."
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