A house in a suburban neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, exploded late Monday night as police were executing a search warrant—a mysterious incident in a community miles from Washington, D.C.
Viral videos show a house in Arlington, Virgina, exploding and erupting in flames Monday ... [+]
The explosion happened after 8 p.m. Monday, hours after Arlington County Police were initially dispatched to a home earlier in the afternoon to respond to a report of possible “shots heard,” police said in a statement.
Video of the explosion went viral on social media, showing a sudden burst of flames through the home’s roof and the eruption of the home’s front porch as debris and flames fly in the air, and in the background, people can be heard screaming in awe of what they just witnessed as car alarms honk.
Earlier in the day, an unnamed suspect allegedly fired a flare gun 30-40 times from inside his Arlington home into the surrounding neighborhood, Arlington County Police said their preliminary investigation found, adding that there was no property damage or injuries as a result of the flare gun discharge.
While officers were investigating the flare gun incident, local police say they obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s house and tried to make contact with him using telephone and loudspeaker communication.
As they were trying to execute their search warrant, police said they heard what they believed was a firearm being discharged in the home several times and at about 8:25 p.m. the house exploded.
Three officers suffered minor injuries as a result of the explosion but none were transported to the hospital, Arlington County Police said.
The identity of the man inside the home and his current condition remain unknown. Police also said the cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
“Things seemed like they were definitely escalating, as the guy inside wasn’t responding and they drove a SWAT truck through the front door, and then shots were being fired after that, so it seemed to be escalating,” Alex Wilson, who filmed a video of the explosion, told Fox5, a D.C. TV affiliate, Monday night. Wilson was sitting on the rooftop of his townhome when he said he took his phone out to film the escalation of events.
Both the Washington field division of the ATF and the FBI Washington field office are assisting in the investigation, NBC4 Washington reported.
Arlington House Explodes As Police Try To Search Home Of Someone Firing Flare Gun (NBC Washington)