Nashville attacker reportedly built bombs in 2019

Nashville Police Releases New Video Of Blast 2:13

(CNN) -

A woman who claimed to be the girlfriend of the Nashville shooter told police in 2019 that he was making bombs in a motor home, according to a statement and documents that the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department provided to CNN.

On August 21, 2019, police received a call from an attorney representing Pamela Perry, the woman who claimed to be the girlfriend of shooter Anthony Warner, the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement Tuesday.

Her attorney, Raymond Throckmorton, said she had made "suicide threats over the phone" to him.

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When police arrived, they found two unloaded pistols near Perry, who said they belonged to Warner.

She told officers that she did not want the guns in the home and that Warner was "building bombs in the mobile home of her residence," according to an MNPD "registration issue" report.

Police also spoke with Throckmorton, who once represented Warner and was also present at Perry's home.

Throckmorton told authorities that Warner "talks frequently about the military and bomb making.

(Throckmorton) stated that he believes the suspect knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb, "according to the report.

CNN reached out to Throckmorton for comment on the information that was first reported by the Tennessean, but has yet to receive a response.

LOOK: New video from the Nashville Police shows what happened in the vicinity of the explosion

After their visit to Perry's home, police went to Warner's property, but Warner did not open the door for them, according to a statement from the department.

Because there was no evidence of a crime, they had no authority to enter his home, the department said.

The MNPD asked the FBI to search its databases for Warner records and none were found, the FBI confirmed in a statement to CNN.

On Monday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the 63-year-old Warner had not previously been on the radar of law enforcement.

Nashville Police Releases New Video Of Blast 2:13

They continue to investigate the crime scene in Nashville

Friday's explosion outside an AT&T broadcast building in Nashville damaged more than 40 buildings and injured at least eight people.

Investigators identified Warner by comparing DNA from the scene to that of gloves and a hat from a vehicle he owned, Rausch said.

The reason for the explosion is still unknown.

The blast left the historic Nashville street in disarray, and federal investigators expect it to take until Friday to examine the debris and collect all evidence from the crime scene, authorities said Tuesday.

By this time, the FBI and ATF national response teams had finished touring half of the crime scene and opened it up to city workers for cleanup and security assessment, according to FBI spokesman Jason Pack.

MIRA: Explosion in Nashville: investigators analyze "all possible reasons" after identifying the person responsible

And while authorities have a lot of work to do to determine what caused the destruction, the area began to open up to nearly two dozen business owners and residents outside the impact site.

They were escorted by officials to buildings considered structurally safe to retrieve their important items, in some cases their pets.

For many of the small business owners affected by the bombing, the damage adds to the hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic.

"This year has been tough," Pete Gibson, owner of Pride & Glory Tattoo on 2nd Avenue, told CNN.

"But just when we have a little light at the end of the tunnel, everything disappears in two seconds."

CNN's Raja Razek, Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, Mark Morales, Jamiel Lynch, Hollie SIlverman, Eric Levenson, Amir Vera, Kay Jones, and Natasha Chen contributed to this report.