Law enforcement agencies on Friday released more details, including video, about the house explosion in Arlington that killed a man last December, and concluded that the blast was “an intentional act” by the man who was killed.
They still don’t know, however, what led James Yoo, the occupant of the house, to set off the explosion.
Arlington Police Chief Andy Penn said at a news conference that Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti found that no charges were justified against law enforcement officers in the December 4 explosion, and played a video detailing the timeline of events.
Yoo, 56, lived in the duplex on North Burlington Street. Last December 4, according to the video, a police officer nearby heard what sounded like gunshots in the neighborhood, near Fields Park. He got to the house and determined flares were being fired. At least 41 flares were shot in a 25-minute span, police said.
The rest of the duplex was evacuated at about 6 p.m.; Yoo remained inside. Police said he’d taped garbage bags over the windows; neighbors said he was reclusive.
A little after 8 p.m., they told Yoo to move away from the front door and breached it with an armored vehicle. At that, Yoo fired several shots, police video suggests. They then shot several rounds of non-flammable munitions into the house — pepper spray and tear gas — into the house to try to get Yoo to come out, Penn said Friday.
The house exploded at 8:24 p.m.
‘An Intentional Act’
Loannis Douroupis, the resident agent in charge at the Washington Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said fire investigators determined that the Arlington house explosion was “an intentional act by the decedent” — specifically, the ignition of gasoline in the basement by a “competent ignition source.” He added that three gasoline canisters, totaling 35 gallons in capacity, were found in the basement, as well as a variety of handguns and shotguns.
Penn said Yoo had a variety of flammables, such as charcoal, lighter fluid, and bleach, delivered to the house in the days and weeks leading up to the explosion.
Sanjay Virmani, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s counterterrorism division, said Yoo acted alone; that there was no connection with terrorism and no ongoing threats to the community.
Penn said the Arlington police’s only previous interactions with Yoo were a couple of noise complaints. He said Yoo hade made some social media postings that were “anti-government, anti-law enforcement,” but nothing that gave police the idea that an incident like this was in the offing.
Penn added that they had spoken with an out-of-state relative of Yoo’s just before the explosion, but when it comes to Yoo’s motivation, “Unfortunately, we’re not gonna know.”
Fire Chief Dave Povlitz said several first responders needed treatment after after the explosion, but none needed to spend time in the hospital.
Claims that Yoo was involved in a firefight with federal agents have been debunked by The Associated Press, and the video gives no indication of that.
Featured image courtesy ATF Washington, via X
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