2023 Arlington house explosion
LocationArlington, Virginia, U.S.
Coordinates38°52′48.4″N 77°07′11.6″W / 38.880111°N 77.119889°W / 38.880111; -77.119889
DateDecember 4, 2023 (2023-12-04)
8:25 p.m. EST (UTC-05:00)
Deaths1
Injured3
VictimJames Yoo (suspected)

On December 4, 2023, a duplex in the neighborhood of Bluemont, Arlington, Virginia exploded following a standoff between a resident, suspected to be 56-year-old James Yoo, and Arlington County Police.

Explosion

External videos
video icon Extended video of Bluemont house explosion, YouTube video

At around 4:45 p.m., officers responded to the home after receiving reports of shots fired and flares being fired from the property.[1] It is believed that James Yoo, who lived in the duplex, had fired more than 30 flares from his residence into the surrounding neighborhood. No injuries or damages were caused by the flares. Police attempted to make contact with Yoo at the scene, but he did not respond.[2][3] Police later obtained a warrant to search the property to secure any weapons inside and ensure there was no risk to public safety, returning with body armor.[3]

At some point, other residents of the duplex were evacuated.[4]

When police attempted to make entry to the property via the front door, several gunshots were fired from inside the residence.[5] One neighbor, who also filmed the explosion, claimed to have seen Yoo with a rifle, shooting at police.[6] Despite this, police continued to attempt to communicate with Yoo, to no success. Police then deployed “non-flammable, less-lethal chemical munitions” into different parts of the duplex, as they were unable to determine the precise location of Yoo, in an attempt to get him to surrender, but he did not.[4]

At around 7 p.m., the fire department cut off the gas line to the residence and evacuated surrounding homes, putting a shelter in place order for the rest of the neighborhood.[5]

At approximately 8:25 p.m., an explosion occurred which destroyed the duplex. Video shows police vehicles seemingly advancing towards the home when the explosion happens. The roof and walls of the home are blown apart and the entire home collapses and immediately becomes engulfed in flames. The explosion sent debris and embers two stories into the air and produced a large amount of smoke. Three officers received minor burn injuries from the explosion, but did not require hospitalization.[4][5] Firefighters worked to extinguish the fire until 10:30 p.m. Human remains were discovered at the scene, suspected to be Yoo’s. A cause for the explosion has not yet been determined.[1]

Suspect

The suspect was identified as 56-year-old James Yoo, a resident of the duplex, who is believed to have died in the explosion. VICE News called Yoo a "conspiracy theorist", referring to his social media accounts, which included LinkedIn and YouTube, where he wrote several "rambling" anti-government and conspiratorial posts dating back a number of years. Among the posts includes statements that the January 6 United States Capitol attack was an "inside job".[7][8]

In 2018, Yoo filed a federal lawsuit against Rochester General Hospital and the state of New York, among other organizations and individuals, including his sister and ex-wife, alleging that they had conspired to hospitalize him against his will in 2015 as a result of the September 11 attacks and the investigation for the Mueller report. Judge Charles J. Siragusa refused to hear the case.[7][8] Three days before the explosion, Yoo also claimed his next-door neighbors were spying on him, writing “This is how White people operate and have the luxury of outnumbering all other races by almost 7 to 1 in Merica.”[8][9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Arlington, Virginia house explosion: What happened and who is the suspect?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  2. ↑ Faguy, Ana. "House Explodes In D.C. Suburb: Here's Everything We Know About The Inferno As Police Served Search Warrant". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  3. 1 2 Flores, Christian (2023-12-05). "TIMELINE: What happened in the moments leading up to Arlington, Va. house explosion". WJLA. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  4. 1 2 3 "FBI is assisting investigation into Virginia home explosion and a suspect is believed to be dead. Here's what we know". CNN. 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  5. 1 2 3 Cook, Gina; Staff, NBC Washington; Press • •, The Associated (2023-12-05). "Suspect in Arlington house explosion presumed dead as more details emerge". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  6. ↑ "BREAKING: Large house explosion in Bluemont amid police incident | ARLnow.com". ARLnow.com | Arlington, Va. local news. 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  7. 1 2 Owen, Tess (2023-12-05). "Conspiracy Theorist Presumed Dead in Explosion During Police Standoff". Vice. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  8. 1 2 3 McBride, Jessica (2023-12-05). "The Rambling Posts of the Man Tied to Arlington House Explosion". Heavy.com. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  9. ↑ Rizzo, Salvador; Daniels, Omari; Hilton, Jasmine (2023-12-06). "Arlington man whose house exploded had history of rambling lawsuits". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
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