New details in massive Arlington house explosion: Suspect had stored gas, guns, authorities say

The explosion that destroyed an Arlington, Va., duplex last December was intentionally set in the home’s basement by the man who lived there, who had stored up to 35 gallons of gasoline and barricaded himself inside the house.

At a news conference Friday, more than six months after the explosion rocked the Bluemont neighborhood, authorities revealed new details about the explosion and provided a detailed timeline of the 3 hours and 40 minutes leading up to the explosion, based on body camera footage from responding officers.

Authorities said James Yoo, 56, barricaded himself inside the home on N. Burlington Street after firing a flare from his window onto the neighborhood dozens of times on the evening of 1 December. 4. This triggered a large police presence as officers attempted to negotiate with him and requested a search warrant to enter the home.

The explosion occurred after authorities forced the front door and attempted to enter the residence. Yoo was killed in the explosion.

Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn said officers fired a total of 16 rounds of pepper spray and tear gas into the house to try to get Yoo to surrender, but that ammunition did not cause the explosion.

Loannis Douroupis, an official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said a team of trained investigators, who searched the blast site, determined that Yoo had spread gasoline around the house, then ignited it from the basement of the house.

Among the debris, investigators found two 5-gallon containers of gasoline and one 20-25 gallon container of gasoline.

The exact source of the ignition is not known, but Douroupis said a cache of weapons was found in the house, including two shotguns, a 9mm pistol, several flare guns and large quantities of ammunition. Yoo could also have used matches or a lighter, he said.

The police chief said a neighbor reported that Yoo had received large quantities of charcoal, lighter fluid and bleach at his home in the months before the explosion.

Minute-by-minute timeline

In addition to the body camera footage released by police Friday, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office released a 32-page report providing an almost minute-by-minute look at how officers responded to the incident.

It all started unfolding around 4:45 p.m. on December 1st. On Jan. 4, an Arlington officer taking a report in his patrol car off N. George Mason Drive heard what sounded like gunshots coming from a row of townhouses on the other side of Fields Park, nearby.

When the officer went to investigate, body camera footage showed him encountering a frightened child near the park. “I am scared!” the child cries.

Eventually, officers identified the sound of gunshots as coming from the rear window of the duplex on N. Burlington Street.

At one point, body camera footage captures a gloved hand holding a flare emerging from the top of an open widow and firing. Over a 25-minute period, a total of 41 flares were captured on the officers’ body cameras, authorities said, landing in the park, near Escuela Key Elementary School and along N. George Mason Drive , a busy thoroughfare.

Eventually, a large group of officers, along with the Critical Incident Response Team, surrounded the house where Yoo remained barricaded, refusing to communicate with officers.

The video footage shows the officers gathered on the lawn as flashing police lights twinkle on a neighbor’s inflatable snowman Christmas decorations.

Around 6 p.m., officers had evacuated the unit next door to the duplex and, due to his erratic behavior, requested a search warrant to enter the home.

By 8:02 p.m., police had transported an armored vehicle and were using a public address system to try to communicate with Yoo.

Around 8:10 p.m., body camera footage shows a long mechanical arm attached to the front of the armored vehicle, extending toward the front door and then breaking it down. That’s when police said Yoo began firing multiple rounds from a gun at the officers, which the police chief called a “significant escalation” by Yoo.

Over the next eight and a half minutes, officers deployed 16 rounds of tear gas and pepper spray, authorities said.

Then, at 8:24 p.m., body camera footage shows the house explode, sending a large fireball into the sky as the townhouse’s brick facade collapses.

Ten other houses were damaged by the explosion. No police officers or first responders were sent to the hospital the night of the explosion, but authorities said Friday that many people sought treatment for their injuries in the days and weeks that followed.

“I recognize how devastating this incident was to our community, especially to the people who lived on or near N. Burlington Street,” Penn, the police chief, said during the news conference. “I can assure you this has been just as devastating for police officers and members of the first responder community.”

He added: “They worked hard to resolve this incident safely and mitigate as many potential risks as possible, and even after the explosion, they showed deep concern for each other and the community surrounding, because they didn’t know what could happen if anything could happen. following.” “

FBI: Yoo acted alone

Sanjay Virmani, special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterterrorism division in Washington, said Friday that investigators concluded Yoo acted alone and that there was no connection to terrorism.

Neighbors said Yoo was strange and exhibited erratic behavior, such as covering his windows with black plastic, throwing trash out of a window into his yard and spreading toilet paper on the trees outside his house.

Authorities said he posted paranoid comments about his neighbors and a former co-worker on LinkedIn, repeatedly called an FBI tip line to report suspected fraud against him and that he had filed several lawsuits that were dismissed by judges as frivolous.

Penn, the police chief, told reporters that Yoo’s social media posts indicated anti-government and anti-law enforcement beliefs, but that the posts did not appear to indicate an immediate threat.

“As far as motive, you know, unfortunately we won’t know,” Penn said.

WTOP staff and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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