Weapons & Guns

Early reports of shots being fired in downtown Nashville before Anthony Quinn Warner blew his RV and himself to smithereens may be bogus -- because we've now learned there's no evidence he or anyone opened fire.

Federal law enforcement sources involved in the investigation and with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... yes, officers initially responded to the scene on Christmas morning after receiving reports of shots fired -- but since then, officials haven't been able to find anything to back that up.

We're told investigators have zero evidence to suggest Warner opened fire in or around the explosion site. Our sources say their initial theory was that Warner may have fired shots to get the cops to the downtown area where they would hear the recording from the RV of an impending explosion and clear the area so no one would be injured or killed in the blast.

There's another, more sinister theory ... that Warner wanted cops there to get close to the explosion, but officials now don't believe that. They say everything Warner did was to avoid loss of life, which is why he chose 6:30 AM on Xmas morning.

Now, our sources do say ammo was recovered at the scene, including exploded rounds that authorities say came from the RV ... however, they don't have markings of rounds fired from a gun. Authorities are convinced that ammo was in pristine condition until the explosion.

As for that loud bang prior to the blast, heard by the people who called 911 -- and we're told multiple people called -- our federal sources say they believe it could have been a recording of gunfire blaring from the RV, which would accomplish the same purpose of getting cops there to clear the area, but they just don't know for sure.

As we reported, there seems to be increasing evidence the AT&T building was Warner's main target.  Authorities think he may have been paranoid about 5G technology.

A bust of Breonna Taylor was vandalized, smashed into pieces, just 2 weeks after it was installed.

The statue graced an area of downtown Oakland, with the inscription, "Say Her Name Breonna Taylor."

The cops are now on the hunt for the vandal/vandals. Since it's in the downtown area there may be surveillance video that helps police find the culprit, but so far no one has been named a suspect.

The sculptor, Leo Carson, said he's starting a GoFundMe page to pay for the repairs.

Carson was furious, saying ..."This vandalism is an act of racist aggression, and it shows why sculpture and art matters," adding, "I made this sculpture to support the Black Lives Matter movement and while I'm overcome with rage and sadness at their cowardly act, their vandalism will make her even more potent."

Authorities have confirmed the identity of the Nashville bomber -- it's who everyone thought it might be, and his fate is also sealed ... the guy's a goner.

The U.S. Attorney for Tennessee made the revelation Sunday at a presser, saying 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner is, indeed, the man they believe detonated a bomb in an RV that was camped out in front of the AT&T building in downtown Nashville early Christmas morning.

He also said Warner died at the bomb site, and that human tissue discovered -- and later analyzed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation -- matched Warner's DNA profile.

As for the RV ... officials say that, too, also belonged to Warner. They linked the VIN number to him. It appears the vehicle had been in his possession for a while, as it had been seen parked at his property as recently as last year. Neighbors also ID'd it in interviews.

Still no word on motive -- although there's speculation he might've been paranoid about 5G tech, but that hasn't been confirmed. The feds also say they can't link his act to any type of ideology they've picked up on in the early days of their investigation. As a result, they aren't dubbing it as terrorism just yet.

Fortunately, Warner himself is the only fatality from the bombing ... which is pretty miraculous considering how big it was. A few people were injured, but not critically.

The moments leading up to the explosion add an extra layer of unease as the why continues to be a mystery ... Warner had an alarm blaring for several minutes telling people to evacuate, and then right before his bomb went off -- cops say he played Petula Clark's "Downtown."

Surrounding businesses were decimated in the blast -- not to mention other damage to public property -- and several shopkeepers are looking for help as they navigate next steps.

A vile woman whose son was being taken into custody did everything she could to make a simple arrest turn violent, as she ordered her son to escape the cops and then hurled obscenities at the officers.

This all went down in Valencia, about 35 miles north of L.A., where Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Deputies were searching for a stolen Tesla in the area -- and happened upon another stolen vehicle ... a Chevy Camaro.

Cops descended on a cul-de-sac with guns drawn, ordering the driver out of the Camaro.  He was taken into custody, but then cops set their sights on a passenger -- the woman's son.

She comes out of the house with her daughter and then gets crazy ... telling her son to come in the house, defying the cops. Remember, police had their guns drawn.

Her kid mouthes off to the cops, swearing at them ... "I see the bitch in all of your f***ing eyes." He then orders cops to unload their guns ... seriously.

His mother then totally loses it ... hurling epithets at the cops. They tried explaining to her they were investigating a crime, and she fired back ... "I don't give a s*** about your f***ing investigation."

She then orders the cops to "get the f*** out of here." When they approach her she screams, "Get the f*** out of my f***ing face." Oh, there's more ... "F*** you and your f***ing mother who birthed your f***ing ass."

BTW ... the woman recklessly let her dog out without a leash in the middle of all of this, and it sure looks like a pit bull.  It walked up to the officers, and she's lucky the dog wasn't shot.

Incredibly ... the mother, who gives Karens a bad name, was not arrested. Her son was arrested on weapons charges.

A Columbus cop shot and killed an African-American man in his own garage ... and it all happened in 10 seconds.

Cops were responding to a non-emergency call ... someone reported a guy inside a car, turning the ignition on and off.

When officers arrived, they noticed the garage of 47-year-old Andre Maurice Hill was open. and Hill came out.

You don't hear the first 60 seconds of audio ... the cop's bodycam wasn't turned on. The cops shined their flashlights on Hill, who turned around and held his cellphone high in the air, almost to say he was not armed. They shot Hill, then ordered him to roll over on his stomach. He was unable to do anything but moan because he had been fatally shot. He died a short time later.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther says he was outraged by the shooting and demanded that the officer who shot Hill be fired. The Mayor was not just outraged at the shooting cop. He said he noted the bodycam video shows none of the officers jumped to give Hill any first aid ... no compression on the wound to stop the bleeding, no CPR. Columbus, Ohio police.

The police report does not go into any detail about the shooting other than to say, "Officer discharged his firearm upon confronting Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill did not survive his injuries."

Some Texas cops are getting sued over a simple traffic stop that turned into 2 completely outrageous arrests in what, on video, appears to be a disgusting abuse of power.

This Keller PD body cam footage shows Sgt. Blake Shimanek pulling over Dillon Puente for allegedly making a wide right turn. That's it. But, watch the video, Shimanek immediately escalated things by ordering Dillion out of his car. Why? Because he had rolled up his window. Shimanek said to him, "Why are you acting so suspicious?"

Next thing ya know ... Dillon's getting handcuffed and his father, Marco Puente, happened to drive by and witness this. The concerned parent pulled over and stood on the sidewalk across the street recording his son's arrest with his phone.

This clearly pissed off Shimanek, who ordered another officer to go arrest Marco ... allegedly for interfering with an arrest. Eventually, Shimanek and the other cop end up wrestling Marco to the ground, grabbing at his phone, and pepper spraying him.

They cuffed Marco and arrested him ... while Dillon had to pay a ticket for the wide right turn just to get released from jail.

Marco filed a lawsuit last week against the officers for the August 15 arrest -- he alleges they denied him medical attention for nearly 20 minutes after he was pepper sprayed.

Shimanek's already been demoted by Keller PD which conducted an internal investigation and found his conduct was unbecoming of an officer ... and his use of force was "inappropriate."

Former Playboy model Victoria Valentino didn't think twice after seeing a gunshot victim lying in her street ... rushing to action and playing nurse until paramedics arrived.

Victoria tells TMZ ... she was sitting in her Altadena, CA home Sunday afternoon when she heard what sounded like a bunch of quick firecrackers -- cops say it was a shooting -- and went outside to discover a neighbor down on the ground.

VV says the man had gunshot wounds, including one in his shoulder, and he was turning gray and going into shock ... so she used her experience as a retired hospice and respiratory nurse, raising his leg to keep blood flowing to the heart and brain.

Victoria, the September 1963 Playmate and a Bill Cosby rape accuser and survivor, says the gunshot victim's wife was by his side too ... and they did what they could to keep him calm until paramedics arrived and took over. She says it's just what nurses do.

A man in NYC opened fire into a parked car from close range as he walked by on the sidewalk -- and miraculously, the people inside survived his barrage of bullets.

Check out this insane shooting that went down in Brooklyn last weekend, which cops are desperately trying to solve with the public's help. They posted surveillance video of the shooting on their NYPD News account, and asked anyone with info to come forward.

As for what led up to this ... it's not entirely clear. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ this unidentified man seems to unload on the parked Saturn for no apparent reason. Although he fired into the driver's side window, it was only the passenger who ended up getting struck.

Our sources say the female passenger was hit twice in the left arm, and the driver was somehow spared. She was taken to a hospital, where she was treated. The man who walked off like nothing had happened is still at large ... and the NYPD is on the hunt.

We're told there's no known motive at this time ... it appears to have been a random act of violence. That can happen in the Big Apple -- Rick Moranis knows that all too well.

"Please! Please! Do not make me shoot you!"

Officials have released video of the deadly shooting incident involving ex-NFL player Ekom Udofia -- which shows officers begging him to drop his weapon before ultimately opening fire.

33-year-old Udofia was a defensive lineman who had a short stint with the Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints after leaving Stanford in 2009.

But, on Nov. 30, 2020 ... Udofia was shot and killed by Phoenix PD officers after they responded to reports of a possibly armed man messing with cars around 2 AM.

The video of the standoff was captured on body cam by the responding officers -- and has now been released to the public in a video presentation produced and distributed by the police.

WARNING: THE VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT IS GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING.

When the video starts, you can see and hear officers screaming at the top of their lungs at Udofia to drop what appears to be a handgun.

At one point, one of the officers begins to beg Udofia to comply -- but to no avail.

"Please drop the gun, dude! Please!" one officer screamed at Udofia. "Drop the gun, man! Please! Please! Do not make me shoot you!"

Udofia did not comply with the officers' orders ... and that's when one of the cops unloaded several rounds into the man's body.

The scene, though, didn't stop there ... because officers still could not get Udofia -- who a 911 caller said appeared to be under the influence of drugs -- to drop the weapon.

As officers begged and pleaded with Udofia to separate himself from the weapon ... cops fired less-than-lethal rounds at his body.

Suddenly, though, the 33-year-old appeared to get up and point the weapon at officers ... and that's when police fired more live bullets into the former football player.

In video of the scene, you can see cops then used pepper balls and even a police dog to ultimately get Udofia away from the weapon.

Officers were able to finally subdue Udofia several minutes after the initial shooting ... but they say he passed away from his injuries after he was transported to a local hospital.

Cops say the gun Udofia was using was eventually identified as a BB gun.

The moment a crazed gunman was shot to death on the steps of an NYC church was captured on camera -- and the video is absolutely intense.

NYPD officers rushed to St. John the Divine Cathedral Sunday in Harlem, responding to reports of a guy opening fire into the air at an outdoor concert. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and folks were able to either escape outright or take cover inside the cathedral -- but it quickly led to a tense standoff right out front.

A man across the street recorded the fatal moment the gunman was struck by a bullet, which took him down. Prior to that though, he repeatedly dodged several shots from cops by taking cover behind a pillar at the cathedral's front doors.

You can hear cops demanding he drop his gun and surrender ... and at one point the guy screams "kill me" multiple times. NYPD says he was hit in the head, and later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The gunman was the only reported casualty or injury.

A ton of folks who'd taken shelter inside were safely evacuated -- and you can tell they're all rattled. So far, there's no suspected motive for the attempted shooting ... the only thing cops are saying is he came armed with multiple firearms -- including semi-automatic weapons -- some knives, rope, gasoline, wire and a bible in his backpack.

R&B singer Ann Marie is no longer behind bars for the alleged shooting of a male friend -- but the judge put her on a tight leash while she's awaiting trial.

Ann posted a $60k bond to get out of jail ... and into her living room. The judge placed her on house arrest, and said she can only travel for work ... with prior approval.

She's got a bunch of other restrictions too. Ann Marie has to give the court a 24-hour heads up for any appointments, and she'll have to provide proof of said appointment. They'll know if she's breaking the rules because she has to wear an ankle monitor.

She's also been ordered to have ZERO contact with the alleged victim, Jonathon Wright, or any of his family members and close associates. If, for some reason, she just happens to run into him, she's been ordered to leave the premises immediately and stay 200 yards away.

She can't possess a firearm, either.

As we reported ... Ann was arrested earlier this month after cops got a call to a hotel in Buckhead, GA where she told officers Wright had been accidentally shot in the forehead.

The 911 call didn't shed much light but Ann can be heard overcome with emotions ... screaming and crying and heard saying, "I love you" to Wright.

Dylan Scott was fatally shot in his car by a Florida police officer who tried for several minutes to get him to cooperate, but Scott's mother thinks the cop could have done more to save her son.

Pennie Kendrick tells TMZ ... even though Dylan refused to comply with the officer's orders, she believes other tactics -- such as tasing him -- should have been used instead of a gun.

Kendrick says they didn't have to kill him, and she's especially upset because she claims the cops knew her son was suicidal so they should have handled the situation differently.

As we reported ... Scott's mother called the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in July when he was wanted for burglary, saying her son left a note that he wanted to die by suicide by cop. She says at the time she urged cops not to shoot him given the circumstances ... and they were able to peacefully arrest him back then for outstanding warrants.

Kendrick claims his time behind bars left him traumatized -- she says he was beaten by other inmates and didn't complete his addiction treatment.

She tells us all this led to more problems, and ultimately he became broke and was living in his car. Scott's mother believes the reason he didn't comply with the officer is that he was scared to death ... but she thinks he would have peacefully surrendered.

Lil Wayne just pled guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a loaded weapon while traveling to Miami on a private jet.

The feds say an anonymous tip led them to Wayne's PJ at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on December 23, 2019, and when they boarded to speak to the passengers ... Wayne told them he had a gun in his bag.

Police say they found a gold-plated Remington 1911, .45-caliber handgun loaded with 6 rounds of ammunition. They also claim they found a bag containing personal use amounts of cocaine, ecstasy, and oxycodone.

Lil Wayne pled guilty to the gun charge Friday in Miami, and his sentencing is scheduled for next month. Weezy, who was convicted of a felony gun charge in NY back in 2009, is now facing up to 10 years in prison.

However, he's likely to get leniency. Our sources say Wayne agreed to the guilty plea and in exchange, the government agreed to recommend a lighter sentence because he's accepting responsibility. Ultimately, his sentence will be up to a judge, but it's a good sign for Tunechi.

A robbery suspect went after residents of the home he was in with a hammer before being shot dead by a responding officer in the nick of time ... and it was captured on body cam.

Police footage of the terrifying Las Vegas incident from the early morning hours Tuesday shows the cop arrive to check out a report of a burglary. The officer says he can see the suspect through a window in the house, then goes to the front door.

The officer tries to get the 2 homeowners -- who are 73 and 76 years old -- to open up quickly to let him in, and thankfully they do ... because a second later the suspect charges with a hammer.

The cop shouts "No!" several times as the suspect tries to attack one of the residents, and as he raises the hammer to strike ... he's shot several times.

He reportedly died at the scene.

The Clark County Coroner has identified the dead man as 40-year-old Nathaniel Sironen. According to police, he broke into the residence armed with the hammer and demanded money and car keys from the homeowners, and told the female resident she was "coming with him."

He's deadly in the ring -- but Terence Crawford isn't one to be trifled with at home either.

The boxing superstar decided to show off his massive gun collection Wednesday -- which includes everything from pistols to high-powered rifles and even a shotgun.

16 firearms in all ... and Crawford says only HALF of his collection is pictured in the photo!!!

"They say I got too many I say I don’t got enough," Crawford posted.

"Always fun when I got time to pull these bad boys [out] and let em rip. P.S this only half. Maybe I do have a problem."

Crawford and some pals took the guns to an outdoor shooting area near his home in Omaha, Nebraska and opened fire on some exploding targets ... and shocker, his aim's pretty good!!

Crawford is widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet ... and fans around the world are praying he'll fight Errol Spence in 2021.

The message here is simple ... don't get on Crawford's bad side. Ever.

Louis Nix III -- a former star Notre Dame defensive lineman -- was shot in the chest in a horrifying incident in Florida ... but thankfully, he says he's doing alright now.

Cops in Jacksonville, FL say they responded to a gunfire call at around 9 PM Tuesday at a local gas station ... and found Nix lying wounded on the ground.

Officers say emergency medical personnel immediately rushed Nix to the hospital ... and there, a doctor told them Nix had said he appeared to be the victim of an attempted robbery.

In the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, cops say doctors told them Nix said, "the suspects put a flashlight into his face" and said something along the lines of "give me..." to him.

Officers say doctors told them Nix felt a gunshot to the chest when he pushed one of the suspects away.

In a video Nix recorded and posted to social media shortly after the incident ... you can see he was terrified about possibly losing his life due to the injuries.

In the clip, Nix -- who had a heavy bandage on his chest -- said, "If I don't make it, I really do love everybody."

Thankfully, in an update Nix posted to his official Facebook page on Wednesday, the 29-year-old said he's doing better.

"I'm alive everyone," Nix said. "The bullet that hit me ricocheted off my sternum into my lung. Surgery is the next step so keep praying for me."

Nix balled out in his 3 seasons as a starter for Notre Dame from 2011 to 2013 ... and he was eventually drafted by the Houston Texans in the 3rd round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Nix played for Houston, the Giants, Washington and Jacksonville up until the 2016 season.

According to the report, one witness said the suspects fled from the scene before officers arrived. No arrests have been made yet, and the investigation is ongoing.