Suspect In D.C.-Area Home Explosion Presumed Dead, Police Say

Topline

The man whose house is believed to have exploded in Arlington, Virginia, while police executed a search warrant on Monday is presumed dead, police said Tuesday—but the cause of the blast remains unclear.

Key Facts

Key Background

Just after 8 p.m. Monday, a home in Arlington exploded, videos show. A sudden burst of flames blew off a home’s roof and video shows debris and flames flying in the air as people are heard in the background shrieking and car alarms blare. Earlier in the day, officers were dispatched to a home to respond to a report of possible “shots heard,” police said in a statement. The suspect, who police have since identified as Yoo, allegedly fired a flare gun 30-40 times from inside his Arlington home into the surrounding neighborhood, police said. Police noted there was no property damage or injuries because of the flare gun discharge. While officers were at the scene investigating the flare gun incident, they obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s house and tried to make contact with him, according to county police. As police attempted to execute the search warrant, they said they heard what they believed was a firearm being discharged in the home several times. At about 8:25 p.m. the house exploded.

Tangent

Both the ATF and the FBI are reportedly assisting in the investigation into the explosion. David Sundberg, assistant director of the FBI’s Washington, D.C., field office told CNN Yoo had previously communicated with the FBI through online tips, phone calls and letters “over a number of years.” Sundberg characterized the communications between Yoo and the FBI as “primarily complaints about alleged frauds he believed were perpetrated against him.”

Big Number

3. That’s how many police officers suffered minor injuries as a result of the explosion, Arlington County Police said.

Further Reading

House Explodes In D.C. Suburb: Here’s Everything We Know About The Inferno As Police Served Search Warrant (Forbes)