Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline Extra 20201225 23:00:00 : co

There are children in this world just like conrad and i cant even imagine anything like this happening again. Suddenly, there was a man with his arm around my neck and a gun to my head. I shoved my purse into his chest and i said jesus save me. And the bullet shot me right in the head and i went down. Lord jesus. Oh my god. It came out of nowhere, a sweet stay at home mom from a Strong Family of faith shot point bank at her own garage door. My dad is like collapsed on the ground. It was very traumatic to see, very emotional time. Her survival seemed like a miracle. I didnt know if i would live. Was this some awful random crime or did someone want her dead . That was mystery number one. Someone was out there. Yeah. We were scared. Mystery number two . A secret 1600 miles away. There were several Text Messages. Just slowly snowballing. It was like a punch in the gut. And mystery number three. Im mean. Im going to hurt you. Who would they turn out to be . Like dang, what did this lady do . Faith, temptation, and a twist the size of texas. Lets be very clear, Justice Needs to be served. I dont think it has been. Carrollton, texas north of dallas is where the upwardly mobile go to by dreams. The schools are good, golf courses got the landscape and churches are more u bictous than starbucks. There is not a lot of Violent Crime in the area. Great area to raise kids and a family. Safe neighborhood. For sure. But travel east 100 miles or so and you enter the piney woods of east texas. Jobs are not as plentiful hear, dreams are deferred and some keep bail bondsmen on speed dial. All the people were dealing with are poor. There is a lot of drugs and meth out there. Different cultures, worlds apart and yet, one summer those two worlds collided in the most unlikely way. This is the story of that summer when money seemed to fall like ticker tape on the piney woods and a carrollton family experienced the kind of Violent Crime that had always happened somewhere else. Help me. Help me. Help me. I need you to call me immediately. Your mom is not hospital with a gunshot wound. Im sorry, what . Its we look at each other, michael and i say we cant make this up. Our story begins in august 2012. Can you believe it . 100 degrees again this afternoon. It was the kind of heat that melts asphalt. It has everyone searching the sky for some sign of mercy but in carlton, 52yearold frank howard wasnt sweating it. Frank was an accountant. His life was good, and Getting Better by the day. I took on a new client and that would have been probably in 2009. Very wealthy client. Yes. What did that come along with, the perks . The wealthy client had his own airports so i guess for the first time probably flying around in private planes and go to cowboy games. As they say in texas, frank howard was standing in high cotton. I was still the same old guy but it was definitely doing some fun things, as well. Frank had come a long way since his days as a preachers son growing up in south central, texas. Very conservative upbringing. You know, there was no drinking and cussing. Never been to the dance. You know, the school prom. Never did any of that kind of stuff, but at the same time, you know, wanting to be just very down to earth, very honest and try to be the best person you can be. Solid values to last a lifetime, but it wasnt all smooth sailing. In college, frank had a brief marriage that ended in divorce. Eventually, he fell in love with a girl from his church. Her name was nancy shore. A brunette with dazzling blue eyes. It was a great time. You know, i still look back at that and think it was a good time. Franks father married the happy couple in 1983 and two years later they had their first child a daughter they named ashley. That wasnt an easy birth. No. There were problems. Yeah, yeah, there were complications. She spent the first ten days of her life in the neo natal unit at the hospital. It was a close call but one that seemed to deepen and enrich the couples faith. Soon, the family grew to include a son, jay, and another daughter breanna. Growing up was great. I had a wonderful older sister and older brother who had kind of helped guide me through stuff and obviously, wonderful mom and dad. Eldest daughter ashley says whatever the Howard Family did, they did together. Both our parents did choir in church. Any time they needed a family, oh, get the howards. They will come. Bring all the kids. We were, you know, always together. Always a family. We went to all of their events. They were busy always doing something. I mean, whether it was, you know, soccer or, you know, anything in the fine arts. In fifth grade i was in a play and my dad actually played my dad and i actually loved that. He was always a bible study leader so a lot of the guys my age were like your dad is so cool. Hes really not. You guys sound like leave it to beaver. We joke we were the cleavers. Breanna was beaverly. We had family howard game night. Absolutely. But by 2012, those days were gone. Frank and nancy were now empty nesters. Ashley and her brother jay were each married and on their own. Breanna was in college in nashville. You were so close with your kids. Was it hard as one by one they started leaving the nest and going off to college . Sure, yeah, it was. Im proud of them. It was difficult. I mean, change is difficult. Now nancy was often home alone. Franks work with his new client a wealthy defense contractor had him traveling to florida, california, even kuwait. There was a little bit more freedom or whatever and like i said i lot of it was work and she was sitting at home. Still, nancy had her faith and Church Activities to fill the empty hours. In fact, thats where she had been the evening everything changed for the Howard Family. It was a saturday night august 18th, 2012. Youre out of town . Yes. You get a call. Yes. That something horrific has happened to nancy. Theres been a robbery at your own house . Yes, i was just just beside myself. I didnt know, you know, what was happening. And so began one of the longest nights of Frank Howards life. Coming up. God help me. Yes, maam. Help me. A harrowing cry for help. Terror was at the door. Im like our mother . That just makes no sense. Almost like it wasnt real. Yeah, like it wasnt real. Thats when i found out that something had happened. I was crying and just going crazy. When the carrollton plot continues. Carrollton plot continues. Gh, you know how i feel. Breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. Its a new dawn. If youve been taking copd sitting down, its time to make a stand. Start a new day with trelegy. No oncedaily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. It also helps prevent future flareups. Trelegy wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, very good day to you. Im richard lui we. Were getting to a press conference in nashville after an explosion of an rv. Lets listen in. Evidence shows the Early Morning explosion was ade a deliberate bomb being set off in the community. The blast caused injuries and catastrophic damage to this very historic part of nashville. Now, at the end of the day, i think all of us, i certainly have, gone from relief there were not more casualties and thats an amazing thing that there were not particularly when people begin to see the devastation on Second Avenue to relief there were not more casualties to now anger and determination and resolve and a resolve to be, to rebuilt and not to be deterred and to bring whoever was responsible for this to justice. Now, ive spoken with governor lee who is working with us to have a decoloration, a Civil Emergency both with the state and then for tema to work with fema to bring all possible resources to commence to rebuilding Second Avenue. To go forward, not be deterred by this and im grateful to the state and federal partners to help this important part of nashville rebuild and come back. There are 41 at least separate businesses that are materially damaged by this blast. There will be others as we see the full extent of this but already, you can tell that its going to need special help, special resources and im grateful to the start partnering with us to commit to rebuilding second. Now, i want to stand with the down town residents and our Business Owners for whom this was a terrible day, but we are like nashville has faced other challenges particularly this year, we can rebuild and get back to normal. Now, as announced earlier, metro is establishing a curfew in the explosion impact area from 4 30 today until 4 30 p. M. This sunday. Now, affected businesses i would urge them to contact crystal lap at 8628600 to be able to manage coming back to your facilities safely but in the meantime, the curfew area is going to provide safety and security for businesses in this area and i will go ahead and warn nashville it will be sometime before Second Avenue is back to normal. It is not going to be the three days of the curfew for Second Avenue itself. The curfew is going to go from fourth to the river to James Robertson down to broadway. The police are going to take special care with that for the next few days and our partners at the fbi do have a large crime scene to investigate and they need to be able to do that work effectively and well. Now, this mornings attack on our community was intended to create chaos and fear in this season of peace and hope, but nashville people have proven time and time again the spirit of our city cannot be broken but were not going to rest until those responsible for this outrageous and cowardly attack are brought to justice and the full force of the metro police and our partners with the fbi and the atf are working together to make sure that we will get back to being a safe city that we are. Now, three people have been hospitalized as a result of the explosion are in stable condition and my prayers are with them and their loved ones. Tonight i was able to visit with a 4yearold girl this morning who was had no injury and was saved but lets just spend a moment in celebration of the six uniformed Metro Police Officers from our central precinct who were at the scene at the time of the blast. These incredible heroes who ran to danger with uncertain outcomes ahead of them were responsible for so many injuries being saved. I have spoken with chief drake and i can record the officers injured by this are recovering well. Id like chief drake to come evaluating the officers who took swift action and directed people away from danger to save lives even at the time that their own lives would have been imperil d imperilled. They are heroes and im grateful to them and all of nashvilles First Responders. This is a year we understand what First Responders mean to our Community Time and time again and unfortunately, on Christmas Day you have another example of that. Now, several downtown residents whose homes were destroyed by the blast and i am inspired by their resilience and we have to draw inspiration from them as our city to be resilient once again and to get the resources to rebuild and im grateful to the red cross who opened an aid shelter for those displaced. With that, turn me turn this over to the chief and answer questions. I think the message of today is we are going from relief now to resolve. To catch those folks and to rebuild our city and one more challenge in nashvilles 2020 but well get through it and were grateful to our First Responders and never, you know, you see all once again, these officers running into danger to help save lives and injury. Its inspiring. And again, the gratitude of our Community Goes to the chiefs force and with that id like to turn it over to chief drake to comment a little more specifically about the hero wisdom, the great hero wisdom of the department. Thank you. Thank you, mayor cooper. Mayor cooper stated, these officers acts of heroism are tremendous. This morning they received calls for shots fired. Have no idea what they were responding to. Once they arrived in the area, they heard an rv giving out a message. Basically saying that it was going to detonate within a certain time frame and countdown would go on and then it was playing music and the countdown would start again. Officers immediately began knocking on doors and evacuating residents here not knowing if the bomb was going to de g ting immediately or in the time stated. These officers didnt care about themselves and think about that. They cared about the citizens of nashville. They went in and we wouldnt be talking about debris that we have here but also maybe potential people. So with that said, the officers saved lives today and their heroism is to be noted. Do you believe either the lyft headquarters or at t data center were at ttargets . We dont know the mowtive but following up. Is there any timing chief, at all, why this happened Christmas Morning . Anything to lead you to believe this day was chosen in particular for this to happen . We dont have anything at this time. Were following up on every lead we can. Why Christmas Morning, no idea. It was a total surprise. When i was briefed this morning, i thought maybe it was going to be a propane explosion from an rv and it turned out to be an intentional act. Well follow up on every lead and following up on tips that come in now so well continue our investigative efforts. Have you found human remains in the debris. We found tissue we believe could be remains and well have that examined and then well be able to let you know from that point. [ indiscernible question ] i cant hear you . Do you believe it might be someone in the. A r. V. The r. V. Was detonated and it was such a large explosion. There is matter all over the area down there so well continue to examine that to see if it is human remains. [ indiscernible question ] right now fatalities. Human tissue . We believe. Could be. To be for certain, we have to examine it and once we know for sure, well let everyone know but were investigating it. Have you received any information of threats leading up to the city in the coming days, anything to lead you to believe that this was something that was coming . We have not received any threats whatsoever. As total surprise as i said. When we get the call, when i got the call this morning, i thought it was going to be a camper. Someone was trying to keep warm. Gas leak and explosion. As i got more updates, thats when i found out it was intentional. We had no prewarnings at all. What do you make of the timing of this being that there are no people out on the street at 6 00 in the morning and that it happened with the announcement playing in advance . Yeah, i dont want to speculate but you would think that this person didnt want to harm people that maybe just wanted to destroy but were not sure until we get further into the investigation. Chief, can you talk about the 911 impact by this . Several cities had their 911 systems knocked out because of this. Do you think that was the relation here . The intention to knock out 911 services . Were not sure. Were following up. Were aware we did have some services go down and at t went down for a little while. Thats back up now. To say anything more would be speculation. Im going to ask for that to be last question for chief now. Well ask chief from metro fire to give an update. Okay. Thank you. Good evening. I know there is a lot of questions and Unanswered Questions that we cant answer right now but some of the things we do want to talk about when we talk about Public Safety and fire and police and Office Emergency management, the things that operate off the lift method and so currently right now we know weve done a sweep of the buildings to try to make sure we cleared, that there is no personnel that are in the buildings and weve done all the hazmat sweeps and all the things that you would imagine if it was a dirty bomb or something. Now you have urban search and rescue teams to sure up the buildings and structural engineers there to make sure again that the buildings are sound enough to actually be able to enter in and out of. So again, its a lot of moving parts and i know theres a lot of questions that again, were trying to answer but at this point, its so many moving parts. Again, we want to take our hats off to the First Responders and the jobs that have been done in the city and especially right now with the infrastructure in the situation it is. All the partners in local, federal working together to make sure as the man said, were a resilient city and will keep moving. Thank you. Do you know how many people were evacuated . Thats a great question and working on that because the way units are designed and were trying to get an accurate head count. What i can tell everyone, the red cross is partnered with us and we have mta or buses set up throughout the city so if there is anything thats displaced, well take them to the East Park Community Center and from there, well make sure they have a place to stay for tonight or for as long as needed. Fair to say hundreds . Hundreds . I would say many people that may be the place. Im sorry, i wont put a number to it there are people that are displaced. Can you speak to the Structural Integrity of the buildings downtown . Is that part of the reason why there is a curfew for the next few days in case anything collapses . Absolutely. So the office of Emergency Management we try to look at the overall view of the city and make sure everything is safe and working together, we know we had one Strong Family<\/a> of faith shot point bank at her own garage door. My dad is like collapsed on the ground. It was very traumatic to see,\rvery emotional time. Her survival seemed like a miracle. I didnt know if i would live. Was this some awful random crime or did someone want her dead . That was mystery number one. Someone was out there. Yeah. We were scared. Mystery number two . A secret 1600 miles away. There were several Text Messages<\/a>. Just slowly snowballing. It was like a punch in the gut. And mystery number three. Im mean. Im going to hurt you. Who would they turn out to be . Like dang, what did this lady do . Faith, temptation, and a twist the size of texas. Lets be very clear, Justice Needs<\/a> to be served. I dont think it has been. Carrollton, texas north of dallas is where the upwardly\rmobile go to by dreams. The schools are good, golf courses got the landscape and churches are more u bictous than starbucks. There is not a lot of Violent Crime<\/a> in the area. Great area to raise kids and a family. Safe neighborhood. For sure. But travel east 100 miles or so and you enter the piney woods of east texas. Jobs are not as plentiful hear, dreams are deferred and some keep bail bondsmen on speed dial. All the people were dealing with are poor. There is a lot of drugs and meth out there. Different cultures, worlds apart and yet, one summer those two worlds collided in the most unlikely way. This is the story of that summer when money seemed to fall like ticker tape on the piney woods and a carrollton family experienced the kind of Violent Crime<\/a> that had always happened somewhere else. Help me. Help me. Help me. I need you to call me immediately. Your mom is not hospital with a gunshot wound. Im sorry, what . Its we look at each other, michael and i say we cant make this up. Our story begins in august 2012. Can you believe it . 100 degrees again this afternoon. It was the kind of heat that melts asphalt. It has everyone searching the sky for some sign of mercy but in carlton, 52yearold frank howard wasnt sweating it. Frank was an accountant. His life was good, and Getting Better<\/a> by the day. I took on a new client and that would have been probably in 2009. Very wealthy client. Yes. What did that come along with, the perks . The wealthy client had his own airports so i guess for the first time probably flying around in private planes and go\rto cowboy games. As they say in texas, frank howard was standing in high cotton. I was still the same old guy but it was definitely doing some fun things, as well. Frank had come a long way since his days as a preachers son growing up in south central, texas. Very conservative upbringing. You know, there was no drinking and cussing. Never been to the dance. You know, the school prom. Never did any of that kind of stuff, but at the same time, you know, wanting to be just very down to earth, very honest and try to be the best person you can be. Solid values to last a lifetime, but it wasnt all smooth sailing. In college, frank had a brief marriage that ended in divorce. Eventually, he fell in love with a girl from his church. Her name was nancy shore. A brunette with dazzling blue eyes. It was a great time. You know, i still look back at that and think it was a good time. Franks father married the\rhappy couple in 1983 and two years later they had their first child a daughter they named ashley. That wasnt an easy birth. No. There were problems. Yeah, yeah, there were complications. She spent the first ten days of her life in the neo natal unit at the hospital. It was a close call but one that seemed to deepen and enrich the couples faith. Soon, the family grew to include a son, jay, and another daughter breanna. Growing up was great. I had a wonderful older sister and older brother who had kind of helped guide me through stuff and obviously, wonderful mom and dad. Eldest daughter ashley says whatever the Howard Family<\/a> did, they did together. Both our parents did choir in church. Any time they needed a family, oh, get the howards. They will come. Bring all the kids. We were, you know, always together. Always a family. We went to all of their events. They were busy always doing something. I mean, whether it was, you know, soccer or, you know, anything in the fine arts. In fifth grade i was in a play and my dad actually played my dad and i actually loved that. He was always a bible study leader so a lot of the guys my age were like your dad is so cool. Hes really not. You guys sound like leave it to beaver. We joke we were the cleavers. Breanna was beaverly. We had family howard game night. Absolutely. But by 2012, those days were gone. Frank and nancy were now empty nesters. Ashley and her brother jay were each married and on their own. Breanna was in college in nashville. You were so close with your kids. Was it hard as one by one they started leaving the nest and going off to college . Sure, yeah, it was. Im proud of them. It was difficult. I mean, change is difficult. Now nancy was often home alone. Franks work with his new client a wealthy defense contractor had him traveling to florida, california, even kuwait. There was a little bit more freedom or whatever and like i said i lot of it was work and she was sitting at home. Still, nancy had her faith and Church Activities<\/a> to fill the empty hours. In fact, thats where she had been the evening everything changed for the Howard Family<\/a>. It was a saturday night august 18th, 2012. Youre out of town . Yes. You get a call. Yes. That something horrific has happened to nancy. Theres been a robbery at your own house . Yes, i was just just beside myself. I didnt know, you know, what was happening. And so began one of the longest nights of Frank Howards<\/a> life. Coming up. God help me. Yes, maam. Help me. A harrowing cry for help. Terror was at the door. Im like our mother . That just makes no sense. Almost like it wasnt real. Yeah, like it wasnt real. Thats when i found out that something had happened. I was crying and just going crazy. When the carrollton plot continues. Carrollton plot continues. Gh, you know how i feel. Breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. Its a new dawn. If youve been taking copd sitting down, its time to make a stand. Start a new day with trelegy. No oncedaily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. It also helps prevent future flareups. Trelegy wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure<\/a> before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, very good day to you. Im richard lui we. Were getting to a press conference in nashville after an explosion of an rv. Lets listen in. Evidence shows the Early Morning<\/a> explosion was ade a deliberate bomb being set off in the community. The blast caused injuries and catastrophic damage to this very historic part of nashville. Now, at the end of the day, i think all of us, i certainly have, gone from relief there\rwere not more casualties and thats an amazing thing that there were not particularly when people begin to see the devastation on Second Avenue<\/a> to relief there were not more casualties to now anger and determination and resolve and a resolve to be, to rebuilt and not to be deterred and to bring whoever was responsible for this to justice. Now, ive spoken with governor lee who is working with us to have a decoloration, a Civil Emergency<\/a> both with the state and then for tema to work with fema to bring all possible resources to commence to rebuilding Second Avenue<\/a>. To go forward, not be deterred by this and im grateful to the state and federal partners to help this important part of nashville rebuild and come back. There are 41 at least separate\rbusinesses that are materially damaged by this blast. There will be others as we see the full extent of this but already, you can tell that its going to need special help, special resources and im grateful to the start partnering with us to commit to rebuilding second. Now, i want to stand with the down town residents and our Business Owners<\/a> for whom this was a terrible day, but we are like nashville has faced other challenges particularly this year, we can rebuild and get back to normal. Now, as announced earlier, metro is establishing a curfew in the explosion impact area from 4 30 today until 4 30 p. M. This sunday. Now, affected businesses i would urge them to contact crystal lap at 8628600 to be able to manage\rcoming back to your facilities safely but in the meantime, the curfew area is going to provide safety and security for businesses in this area and i will go ahead and warn nashville it will be sometime before Second Avenue<\/a> is back to normal. It is not going to be the three days of the curfew for Second Avenue<\/a> itself. The curfew is going to go from fourth to the river to James Robertson<\/a> down to broadway. The police are going to take special care with that for the next few days and our partners at the fbi do have a large crime scene to investigate and they need to be able to do that work effectively and well. Now, this mornings attack on our community was intended to create chaos and fear in this season of peace and hope, but nashville people have proven time and time again the spirit of our city cannot be broken but were not going to rest until those responsible for this outrageous and cowardly attack are brought to justice and the\rfull force of the metro police and our partners with the fbi and the atf are working together to make sure that we will get back to being a safe city that we are. Now, three people have been hospitalized as a result of the explosion are in stable condition and my prayers are with them and their loved ones. Tonight i was able to visit with a 4yearold girl this morning who was had no injury and was saved but lets just spend a moment in celebration of the six uniformed Metro Police Officers<\/a> from our central precinct who were at the scene at the time of the blast. These incredible heroes who ran to danger with uncertain outcomes ahead of them were responsible for so many injuries being saved. I have spoken with chief drake\rand i can record the officers injured by this are recovering well. Id like chief drake to come evaluating the officers who took swift action and directed people away from danger to save lives even at the time that their own lives would have been imperil d imperilled. They are heroes and im grateful to them and all of nashvilles First Responders<\/a>. This is a year we understand what First Responders<\/a> mean to our Community Time<\/a> and time again and unfortunately, on Christmas Day<\/a> you have another example of that. Now, several downtown residents whose homes were destroyed by the blast and i am inspired by their resilience and we have to draw inspiration from them as our city to be resilient once again and to get the resources to rebuild and im grateful to the red cross who opened an aid shelter for those displaced. With that, turn me turn this over to the chief and answer questions. I think the message of today is we are going from relief now to resolve. To catch those folks and to rebuild our city and one more challenge in nashvilles 2020 but well get through it and were grateful to our First Responders<\/a> and never, you know, you see all once again, these officers running into danger to help save lives and injury. Its inspiring. And again, the gratitude of our Community Goes<\/a> to the chiefs force and with that id like to turn it over to chief drake to comment a little more specifically about the hero wisdom, the great hero wisdom of the department. Thank you. Thank you, mayor cooper. Mayor cooper stated, these officers acts of heroism are tremendous. This morning they received calls for shots fired. Have no idea what they were responding to. Once they arrived in the area, they heard an rv giving out a message. Basically saying that it was going to detonate within a certain time frame and countdown would go on and then it was playing music and the countdown would start again. Officers immediately began knocking on doors and evacuating residents here not knowing if the bomb was going to de g ting immediately or in the time stated. These officers didnt care about themselves and think about that. They cared about the citizens of nashville. They went in and we wouldnt be talking about debris that we have here but also maybe potential people. So with that said, the officers saved lives today and their heroism is to be noted. Do you believe either the lyft headquarters or at t data\rcenter were at ttargets . We dont know the mowtive but following up. Is there any timing chief, at all, why this happened Christmas Morning<\/a> . Anything to lead you to believe this day was chosen in particular for this to happen . We dont have anything at this time. Were following up on every lead we can. Why Christmas Morning<\/a>, no idea. It was a total surprise. When i was briefed this morning, i thought maybe it was going to be a propane explosion from an rv and it turned out to be an intentional act. Well follow up on every lead and following up on tips that come in now so well continue our investigative efforts. Have you found human remains in the debris. We found tissue we believe could be remains and well have that examined and then well be able to let you know from that point. [ indiscernible question ] i cant hear you . Do you believe it might be someone in the. A r. V. The r. V. Was detonated and it was such a large explosion. There is matter all over the area down there so well continue to examine that to see if it is human remains. [ indiscernible question ] right now fatalities. Human tissue . We believe. Could be. To be for certain, we have to examine it and once we know for sure, well let everyone know but were investigating it. Have you received any information of threats leading up to the city in the coming days, anything to lead you to believe that this was something that was coming . We have not received any threats whatsoever. As total surprise as i said. When we get the call, when i got\rthe call this morning, i thought it was going to be a camper. Someone was trying to keep warm. Gas leak and explosion. As i got more updates, thats when i found out it was intentional. We had no prewarnings at all. What do you make of the timing of this being that there are no people out on the street at 6 00 in the morning and that it happened with the announcement playing in advance . Yeah, i dont want to speculate but you would think that this person didnt want to harm people that maybe just wanted to destroy but were not sure until we get further into the investigation. Chief, can you talk about the 911 impact by this . Several cities had their 911 systems knocked out because of this. Do you think that was the relation here . The intention to knock out 911 services . Were not sure. Were following up. Were aware we did have some services go down and at t went down for a little while. Thats back up now. To say anything more would be speculation. Im going to ask for that to\rbe last question for chief now. Well ask chief from metro fire to give an update. Okay. Thank you. Good evening. I know there is a lot of questions and Unanswered Questions<\/a> that we cant answer right now but some of the things we do want to talk about when we talk about Public Safety<\/a> and fire and police and Office Emergency<\/a> management, the things that operate off the lift method and so currently right now we know weve done a sweep of the buildings to try to make sure we cleared, that there is no personnel that are in the buildings and weve done all the hazmat sweeps and all the things that you would imagine if it was a dirty bomb or something. Now you have urban search and rescue teams to sure up the buildings and structural\rengineers there to make sure again that the buildings are sound enough to actually be able to enter in and out of. So again, its a lot of moving parts and i know theres a lot of questions that again, were trying to answer but at this point, its so many moving parts. Again, we want to take our hats off to the First Responders<\/a> and the jobs that have been done in the city and especially right now with the infrastructure in the situation it is. All the partners in local, federal working together to make sure as the man said, were a resilient city and will keep moving. Thank you. Do you know how many people were evacuated . Thats a great question and working on that because the way units are designed and were trying to get an accurate head count. What i can tell everyone, the red cross is partnered with us and we have mta or buses set up throughout the city so if there is anything thats displaced,\rwell take them to the East Park Community Center<\/a> and from there, well make sure they have a place to stay for tonight or for as long as needed. Fair to say hundreds . Hundreds . I would say many people that may be the place. Im sorry, i wont put a number to it there are people that are displaced. Can you speak to the Structural Integrity<\/a> of the buildings downtown . Is that part of the reason why there is a curfew for the next few days in case anything collapses . Absolutely. So the office of Emergency Management<\/a> we try to look at the overall view of the city and make sure everything is safe and working together, we know we had one Building Collapse<\/a> due to the explosion and due to the age of the other buildings and then we had water was being actually displayed throughout the buildings and cold weather. We think the Water Department<\/a> as well is making sure they got the water shut off but still, the\rintegrity of those buildings are in question so were trying to make sure that we do have everybody in place and safety for all personnel. Chief, can you real quick talk about what building was that that collapsed . I dont have that address, sorry. Any Business Inside<\/a> . Residential . It was a building that actually housed across from the explosion, which above the it was a residential above so i cant really give you im sorry. All right. Guys. That will be the last question for this evening. I want to thank you guys for coming out. We will be in touch with you with regular updates. Again, thank you to mayor cooper, to chief swan and chief drake for being here and especially to those officers that we are so grateful for this evening. Youll hear from us again. All right . Thank you. That was the latest from nashville, tennessee. 5 23 local time, 6 23 pacific. There was an earlier briefing as\rwell. If you were with us over the last 13 minutes, they dont have a lot of new news. One of the questions certainly out there, suspects. Motive. And in terms of those who may have been involved, was there loss of life . There additional injury that were unaware of at the moment . They were confirming three people injured and Police Officers<\/a> very clear to say six of them that ran towards the scene of the crime and then the aftermath as we look at some of the pictures from during and after the explosion itself. Lets bring in jim kavanaugh, retired atf special agent in charge and nbc news Law Enforcement<\/a> manager and msnbc, former assistant director for counter intelligence. You know, lets start with this first question as we look at the new information that has come in so far, jim. Youre there in tennessee. What are you seeing and learning on the ground that youve seen so far . Well, this is a massive blast, richard. It shook the city. There was a low ceiling. We had flight flurries last night in nashville and it shook the city. It was felt miles away. Watching the video of it, this was a very large explosion, explosive device used in there. It could have been a blasting agent like ammonia nitrate. I havent seen enough angles to be able to tell what type it was. Sometimes those are indicators but it was very large. It was very planned. It was the recording to get people away tells us a little bit about the intent of the bomber. You know, you endanger people when you detonate a large and i imp viced explosive device. We shouldnt go too far praising someone from trying to save lives. There was an effort by the bomber or bombers to get people away from the vehicle so this could be a spectacular suicide with a message to come that may be at the bombers home or it could be not a suicide, maybe there is no body remains found, a victim, a homeless person, someone passing a pedestrian. We dont know. And this could be a message of look what im capable of, look what we are capable of. You better meet our demands or there will be more. That could also come with the suicide once you go to the residents of a person if there is a person that committed suicide in a spectacular fashion wants attention, wanted to showcase their capabilities and\rgo back and say there is more like me. Im just the first to come. So those are possibilities. Look. This is the tourist area of nashville. I worked. I was the special agent in charge. I worked here as an agent. I worked hear for years on and off in the assignments. I know the city like the back of my hand. I have been on the street many times. This is the end of the tourist loop. This place is crowded with tourists on any day of the week even christmas there would probably be people strolling on the sidewalk later in the day but not at 6 30 in the morning when its 29 degrees. So there was a time picked here when the street was empty. So i think thats done purposely and goes along with the recording. You wanted to get in a spectacular place to get attention, the heart of a major American City<\/a> and he or they,\rand they wanted to push people back and showcase their capability. Now, it may be because they wanted to kill themselves and go out like this. We had a bombing at the opri land hotel when i was in charge and a car bomb, a range rover a man blown out, spectacular event. Thats the Largest Hotel<\/a> in the east of the mississippi. Not in las vegas. A big bomb. It was a suicide. And a spectacular suicide. The man trying to beat the life insurance. These things do happen that way and it could be that. But all the answers arent in. I think the remains who do they belong to, special agents on the ground, detectives are trying to find out here is the question. Is this van owned privately . Is it rented . Is it stolen . They have to put that together. Who last had this r. V. And who is that person . That person may be a person who\rcannot be interviewed because they are missing because they are dead. They were in the van or missing because some other activity. There is a lot of questions. Its coming together. Im sure they will have a lot of answers by tomorrow. Frank, motive suspect . What are you seeing from your point of view . Richard, i know there is a lot of speculation and c conjunctico congestico conjecture on social media and in this environment, i understand why that discussion is happening but i want to tell our viewers that that kind of focus on motivation can be dangerously distracting for Law Enforcement<\/a> and jim knows that the focus right now is all about evidence, data, following leads, getting information from the public and figuring out who did this, not so much why they did that and in my own experience, in bombing investigations, i\rfound that can be very districting if you go off on why because very often, the person who did this and the reason they did this will not make sense to us. But it makes sense to them, and im thinking back to i know jim knows this case a serial mail bomb case in the south that killed a federal judge, a civil rights attorney in savannah, federal judge in alabama. We had all kinds of conjuncture why but when we sat that individual down, he made no sense to us. Before we start saying that this is some International Terrorist<\/a> group or some domestic terrorism group, lets not rule out the far greater percentage of probability that this is someone who is mentally unstable. This will play out. Well see what happens. Well see if this person is alive or dead but this person if not caught could do this again and might be trying to play with the police. 6 30 a. M. Christmas morning\rchoosing not to injure people, warning people might be far more about what i can do in the future than what i could have done right now. Great stuff there and as we get back to you, jim, 30 seconds, what do you make of the curfew . Do you make of the picture of the class c motor home there . Yeah, the curfew is just so they can process the bomb scene. It will take them the better part of a week just to process the bomb scene, to get in there theyll recover the componen components of the device and premiere bomb, i was on that team and supervised the team and ran it from washington. I was in atf when the cases happen in frank. I know them well. That was a defendant a thtf cau\rfor a bombing. One of the chemoesists recogniz it. It will be solved and a lot of answers by tomorrow. Well leave it there for now. Jim and frank, thank you for your experience and your perspective on this as we learn new details in the breaking story, well get right back to it. Now back to dateline in progress. To the door, didnt hear a thing but suddenly there was a man with his arm around my neck and a gun to my head demanding my purse. What is that feeling like . It didnt really register what was going on. So much so, that i guess i didnt have quite enough fear, i dont know, because i wrestled away from him and turned and faced him and realized this is for real. This guy has got a gun robbing me and he demanded again, my\rpurse, and i had my purse on this shoulder and my taco bueno bag and i gave him my taco bueno bag. I bet he thought what is this woman doing giving me her supper . She doesnt get it. So finally, the third time, he demanded with expletives my purse and i finally caught on and i reached off and i was standing close enough to him to have an arms length to shove my purse into his chest and i shoved my purse into his chest and i said jesus save me and the bullet shot me right in the head and i went down. Is it just happening so fast or do you realize i cant believe hes actually shooting me . It happened so fast that i didnt realize im assuming he shot me and turned and ran because i guess i blacked out. I mean, there was a period of time that i didnt know what was going on. Nancy doesnt know how long she lay unconscious on the garage floor. When she came to, the shooter was gone but she was not alone. I began to kind of come to and i thought, i think youve been shot. Youre going to die. And then there was another voice and it was the voice of my heavenly father who is more powerful than a speeding bullet. And he said get up. Get up. How much pain are you in . Im in excruciating pain but its more the pain of not to be able to get a breath and knowing i was simply gur gling and\rspitting blood the entire time. I ended up belly crawling. Nancy knew she needed help fast, but her cell phone was gone. It had been in her purse and that had been stolen so she crawled into her car in hopes of activating her cars Emergency Response<\/a> system, but she couldnt get it to work. Amazingly, she got on to her feet and walked into the house. I was able to turn off my house alarm, the presence of mind to come up with those numbers, thats only a god thing because i had been shot in the head. She went to the nearest bathroom when she turned on the light, she saw an absolute horror looking back at her in the mirror. That was when she called 911. Tell me exactly what happened. Did you still think you could die at that point . I didnt know if i would live. Ive been shot, please. Whats address, maam . I told her, please dont leave me. She said no, ms. Howard, ill\rstay here with you until they come because anyone who is fighting for their life and has called 911 knows that they could die. They dont want to die alone. Now three days later nancy was able to give police a more detailed decemb detailed description of the man who shot her. He had a strong chin with facial hair. He was wearing dark rimmed glasses and a dark baseball cap. Could you see his eyes . I did look him in the face and i did look him in the eyes but i dont know how to describe what that felt like. Did he just look blank . Did he look evil . He looked intent on doing what he came to do. I would say he certainly had no pity, no emotion of doing to some homemaker what he was\rdoing. There didnt seem to be a presence of emotion or concern. Did you say anything to him . I just said jesus save me when e fini finally figured out was going on. I dont recall saying anything to him. The detectives had something to work with but then their investigation developed a new and surprising twist. They discovered the cell phone frank handed over contained jaw dropping information. Turns out frank had been keeping a secret. Coming up. That was the big red flag when looking at everything. Soon, that secret would come tumbling out to everyone he loved. My dad actually called me at work and said i got to tell you something. Thats a hard thing to hear. It is. You know, a punch in the gut. Its like this is not what is supposed to happen. When the carrollton plot continues. O happen. When the carrollton plot continues. Quit cold turkey. Kidding me . instead, start small. With nicorette. Which can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette\rwere portuguese . I thought we were hungarian. Can you tell me that story again . Behind every question is a story waiting to be discovered. This holiday, start the journey with a dna kit from ancestry. The investigation into nancy howards shooting was in thor did stages when detectives had made a realization. When they examined the phone, they realized frank wasnt the devoted husband he apaired to be. Nancys husband had been having an affair. We noticed on his cell phone there was several Text Messages<\/a> to a contact in his phone identified as s tahoe cell. Those Text Messages<\/a> was clear from the content of the messages that frank was involved in an extra marital affair. There was more. Photos that showed frank with the other woman. There was photos on his phone of frank and this female that we believe to be the person that was sending those Text Messages<\/a> back and forth with frank. The detectives asked the fbi to find out more about franks mistress. They learned she was a 40 something mother of two teenage daughters. Her name suzanne. We were able to speak with her and confirm that frank was in fact with her on the night nancy was shot. He had originally told us he was\rin california on business. That was the a big red flag when looking at everything. We got to take a harder look at frank and what is going on with frank because he didnt mention anything about this mistress. The detectives wanted to know if frank had any more secrets they should know about so they decided to interview his children. We had no idea that they were looking at my dad so seriously until, you know, we got in the room and they just kept hounding and hounding and hounding on my dad. It was like, you know, this line of questioning is concerning. They just started telling me something is not right and we think that before you talk to them any more, dad, we need to talk to a lawyer. Why would they say that . Because theyve seen shows like dateline nbc. They always suspect the husband so get a lawyer. Though frank says that at the time he didnt think innocent people needed lawyers. He hired one anyway. Then he had a heart to heart with reaeach of his kids. My dad actually called me at work and said, you know, i got to tell you something. He said, the reason theyre looking at me so closely is that ive been having an affair and i was like crap. Like dad, come on. Dont have affairs, you know. Thats a hard thing to hear. Yeah, it is. Its a punch in the gut. This is not what is supposed to happen, you know. You guys were the cleavers. We were the cleavers. It was like okay, this is not a good situation. There is never a good time to get caught cheating, but getting caught by police while your wife is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head has to rank as one of the worst. Frank had to tell his family embarrassing details about his other life. The one he had been living in california with his mistress, suzanne. How did you meet her . We found each other playing\rat a gambling table one night and thats kind of what started it. There was just an attraction you couldnt fight . Yeah, thats i fell in love with her. I loved her. She brought out things in me and had a connection i never felt before. So it was very difficult time, very confusing, very stressful, very much a struggle. For his part, frank says he wasnt trying to hide anything from police. I knew there was evidence of the affair and i felt like its going to be difficult but i felt like that nancy and i could somehow work through that. Did you think at all well, the police are going to find this information, should i just tell them . No, i didnt think it was relevant to what happened to nancy. I didnt think that way. I dont you know, it never dawned on me to make that connection. Frank knew he had to tell nancy about the affair before the police did. But because he was now considered a suspect, the cops\rhad asked the hospital to keep him away from nancy. Now, one of the most delicate conversations of frank and nancys married life had to happen on the phone. He was just broken apart, just broken apart, weeping to the point that i just almost couldnt understand him. A lot of crying, a lot of apologizing and, you know, telling her im sorry about the affair and that im going to make it right and im going to do whatever i can do and i want to do that. Is that a bombshell for you . I was dumbfounded really. I was just dumbfounded. Im like really . And i was i just i think there was a side of me that i didnt really even believe it. Nancy has never thought of frank as the fa landering type but in height sigindsight, she r relationship changed in 2009\rwhen he went to the work for the rich client. Raylee made millions in the iraq war and made frank his chief Financial Officer<\/a> and soon, nancy began noticing changes at home. It increased our lifestyle a bit. We were able to do more things, but it did begin to interfere. With your marriage . Uhhuh. How did it change your marriage . How did it make it more difficult . There was a lot of travel and we became empty necessasters th year. I really missed my kids. I think he really missed his kids but i think he had his work to help fill that void. Nancy says once frank even ditched her on new years eve so he could be with new business associates. I blew a gasket. Youre on the back burner. I said okay, im going to counseling because if we dont get into counseling, were going to lose our marriage. Did he agree to go . And he went for a little while, and determined that he didnt feel that it was doing any good. Now, as she recovered in the hospital, it was obvious to nancy why frank hadnt been interested in saving their marriage. Her husband was in love with somebody else. I said where did you meet her . He told me. I said and how long has it been . He told me. Three years frank told her, three years of lying, three years of living a double life. One in texas, one in california. Frank wasnt proud of it. Youre a preachers son. You know better than that. Sure, it was very wrong and, you know, i know it now and i knew it then. I knew going through it it was\rjust trying to figure out how to deal with it. While most men try to keep indiscretions private, Frank Howards<\/a> dirty laundry was part of a criminal investigation but the detectives say they were determined to keep an open mind. I think i told michael lets not get tunnel vision on this just because he has a girlfriend, you know, lets make sure we look outside and not just key on that as a possible motive or reason for the shooting. So the detectives went back to work examining every piece of evidence they had. It turns out the Church Surveillance<\/a> tape would take their investigation in a whole new direction. Coming up. Clearly showed nancy arriving at the church as shes going into the parking lot, there is a silver vehicle following in behind her. Had someone been stalking nancy . Yeah, it was clear from the vitd o video she was followed. Shes not a random target. There is Something Else<\/a> going on here. When the carrollton plot continues. Carrollton plot continues. People cough in the country, at sea, and downtown. But dont worry, julie. Robitussin shuts coughs down. Yits more than just a house. [music playing throughout] its a kitchen thats been passed down, along with the recipes. Three generations on the wall. With room to grow. The rhythm of home. The smells, the sounds, the flow. The feeling of owning a home is not black or white. Citi is working across our business to make Home Ownership<\/a> a reality for more black americans. Want to sell the best burger add an employee. Ode . Or ten. Then easily and automatically pay your team and file payroll taxes. That means. World domination or just the west side. Run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks. Xfiniwith the new hbo max app on xfinity. Watch the greatest collection of shows, movies and new max originals. Enjoy hbo favorites you know and love like game of thrones and the undoing. With exclusive max originals like the flight attendant. And blockbuster movies like dolittle. Just say hbo max into your voice remote to sign into your hbo account or sign up. Tv made simple, easy, awesome. Reporter detectives wall and turner were following all leads in their investigation into nancy howards shooting evaluating and reevaluating every new scrap and tidbit that came their way. Take nancys purse and its contents. After the shooting, theyd had her cell phone tracked and quickly discovered her purse in a nearby dumpster. There were still 11 and ten cents inside the purse, the cell phone, the keys. It appeared as if all of the contents of the purse were still there. Reporter but what really caught their attention was the fact that her drivers license seemed to have been removed and cast aside. That was the only item that was taken from the purse. It was at that point in time that i became suspicious. Reporter if the shooter didnt want nancys money and credit cards, then maybe hed planned to kill her. Why was the drivers license found separate from the wallet . I believe, i think you would would agree, that they pulled out the drivers license out of the billfold to make sure that they had gotten nancy howard and confirmed it with her drivers license. Reporter working on a hunch that nancy had been marked for death the detectives decided to take a closer look at the video from the security cameras at her church. The video clearly showed nancy arriving at the church. As shes pullin into the parking lot, theres a silver vehicle thats followin in behind her. She drives around to the south side of the church and parks. That silver vehicle parks a few parking spots away from her. Could you make out the license plate . Could you make out the people in the vehicle . No. The video wasnt clear enough for us to see the license plate. You could tell from the video that there was two occupants a driver and a passenger, in the front seat. Reporter shortly after nancy enters the church, the silver car drives away, but returns just before the Church Service<\/a> ends. Then a big moment in the case the church cameras catch a glimpse of a possible suspect. The driver exits the vehicle and enters the church to use the restroom. His he was wearin a hat and it was brought down partially coverin his face. The driver comes back out and gets in the silver vehicle. And as nancy leaves the Church Service<\/a> and gets in her car, she backs out and leaves the parking lot. And that vehicle follows her outta the parking lot. Is this Crystal Clear<\/a> to you now, that nancy was a target . Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. It was clear from that video that she was followed, and that they came back to the church to wait on her to leave. It was an exciting moment, cause weve got a lead now. We know that shes not just a random target. It appears that theres Something Else<\/a> going on here. Reporter Something Else<\/a> indeed. In fact, a fellow cop told them about a routine traffic stop, a month before, that suddenly seemed quite significant. It was in the Early Morning<\/a> hours that carrollton Police Officers<\/a> stopped a car about a mile from the howard home. So, how long you been in carrollton tonight . Weve been trying to find my uncles house for two,three, four hours okay. The reason i ask cause i saw you guys earlier. And i see you again, and its now its we were going in circles and circles and circles. Reporter there were two men in the car. They were a hundred miles from their homes in east texas. Could you step out of the car, just for a second . I want to talk to you for a little bit. Reporter the driver was a 19 year old named Dustin Hiroms<\/a>. According to the police, hiroms appeared to be high on something, possibly meth. Initially he told the police that hed come to carrollton to get money from his uncle. But seconds later he said he was\rlooking for his step father. Then he said his step father was in jail and that he was really looking for someone else. Tell me who you are visiting here, cause now im confused. You said uncle, and then you just said his name is john, okay . Okay. We always called him john, that was it. So johns a friend of the family . Yes, basically. Reporter john . Thats a name youll hear later in this story. But at the time it meant nothing to the officers. Were not were not tryin to cause no problems, maam. Reporter the whole thing might have been forgotten except for this at one point hiroms blurted out that he was a hitman involved in a plot to kill a carrollton woman. At the time, it sounded like another crazy story from a drug addled teenager. Police looked into it anyway, but they couldnt pin it down. Hiroms was booked on minor charges and released. Weeks later nancy was shot. Once the incident occurred on august the 18th where nancy was shot it really kinda tied those two things together. Reporter police wondered if Dustin Hiroms<\/a> and his buddy in the car were tied to the shooting . If nancy could pick either of those men out of a photo lineup, the detectives figured it would be case closed. Are you thinking shes gonna be able to id one of these guys immediately . Oh yeah. If we could get the shooter identified, i mean, thats over half the battle right there. So you show her the photos. And . She wasnt able to identify anybody from the photo lineups. Was that a letdown . Yeah, but its expected. Are you thinking still, she it still could be them, she mightve just gotten it wrong . Oh yeah. They just because she didnt identify em that wasnt for us to change direction, go anywhere else. Were still on the trail of those two. Reporter but just as they were beginning their hunt for Dustin Hiroms<\/a> the investigators got a call. As luck would have it there was someone over at the county jail who claimed he had the inside story of the shooting. Stated that Billy Johnson<\/a> an inmate wanted to speak with us about the shooting. The detectives were intrigued and set up a meeting at the county jail. For the record you asked to speak with us . His wrap sheet showed he was a career criminal. A reputation he didnt mind discussing. I dont claim to be tough and bad. Im mean. Ill hurt you. If he was mean, he was also calculating. Police would soon learn whatever tale he had to tell could be theirs. For a price. It was two of them. He provided a lot of information that she shouldnt\rhave known. Maybe a family affair. Certainly a strange cast of characters. Some people call them the hee hau gang. When a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. 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