A man who played “similar” audio outside a Tennessee church as the Nashville suicide bomber on Christmas Day has been arrested, local police announced Sunday night.
James Turgeon, 33, drew fears of a copycat Sunday when he parked a white box truck outside Kings Chapel Independent Missionary Baptist Church and convenience store playing similar recordings to those played by Anthony Warner, who allegedly blew his RV up in downtown Nashville.
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office began receiving 911 calls around 10:30 a.m. Sunday about the truck and caught up to Turgeon during a traffic stop in Wilson County.
Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Special Operations Unit used a robot to sniff for explosives on the truck, but none were found, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.
Turgeon has been charged with two counts of felony filing a false report and one count of tampering with evidence and is being held on $500,000 bond at Rutherford County Adult Detention Center.
A computerized voice, seemingly coming from Warner’s RV, warned Nashville residents on Christmas Day to “evacuate now” before the camper detonated around 6:30 a.m. Petula Clark’s 1964 single “Downtown” was also playing from the speakers, according to Nashville police.
Three people were injured in the blast and Warner was killed.
