Arrest after "highly sophisticated" improvised bomb planted outside nursing home
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- A spokesman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says police have arrested a man accused of placing an improvised explosive device inside an employee’s car outside a suburban Nashville nursing home.
Authorities told CBS affiliate WTVF the device was “highly sophisticated” and could have caused a great amount of damage, if detonated, to the facility and possibly those inside.
TBI spokesman Josh DeVine said Sunday on his Twitter feed that 41-year-old Mitchell Hunter Oakes was arrested in the case. Earlier Sunday, the TBI said Oakes faced a charge of attempted first-degree murder.
The device was spotted in the car Saturday by a worker who was ending her shift at the NHC Cool Springs facility in Franklin. About 60 patients were moved to other parts of the facility while local and federal bomb specialists used a robot to secure the device.
Police told the station the person in whose vehicle the device was found had been romantically linked to the suspect. Investigators said Oakes has extensive knowledge of bomb making and weapons, along with a violent past.
Michael Knight, spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told the station the bomb was full of clues that helped lead them to Oakes.