Arlington, Virginia, was rocked on Monday night by a massive explosion. It wasn’t terrorism—a house blew up. It was all caught on video. Police were attempting to search the premises when the residence exploded. It was an hours-long saga, where there were reports of a man firing a flare gun in the neighborhood around 5 PM. Later that evening, police arrived but were reportedly met by gunfire. A search warrant was issued to clear the house of possible firearms when the owner, identified as James Yoo, refused to comply, leading to law enforcement deploying a chemical irritant to flush out Yoo. That’s when the residence exploded.
A home in Arlington, Virginia has exploded - just outside of the Nation’s Capital. pic.twitter.com/4eNUxjW7OY
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 5, 2023
Given the footage, you don’t need to be a medical expert to know that Yoo likely died in the explosion. Remains were discovered, but police are confident the body is that of Mr. Yoo, who had a string of bizarre social media posts. Police wouldn’t elaborate further, but uncorroborated eyewitness accounts of the standoff paint an odd picture, where one person said she heard someone, maybe Yoo, say “Let me go” when police were trying to coax him out of the house.
Just drove by. Heavy police presence. Entire block roped off. Some
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) December 5, 2023
cops wearing masks due to the heavy smoke. Lots of people in the McDonald’s parking lot across from the neighborhood where the house blew up watching or waiting to go back to their homes. https://t.co/LOPlbMBOId pic.twitter.com/3q7t4vrj56
The man seemed a bit off his axis, as his reported LinkedIn page had “US the world’s biggest terrorist” in the bio. The gas lines to the home were also cut around 7 PM, about 90 minutes before the explosion (via WaPo):
James Yoo, who lived in the house at 844 North Burlington Street, is believed to have died in the massive blast that sent flames, smoke and debris raining down on the neighborhood, County Police Chief Andy Penn said at a news briefing. Investigators found human remains at the scene of the blast and are still trying to determine the person’s identity, but Penn said in all likelihood it is Yoo.
The standoff that preceded the explosion involved suspected gunfire from inside the house as police officer were trying to execute a search warrant, looking for weapons, Penn said. Arlington’s Assistant Fire Chief Jason R. Jenkins told reporters that the cause of the blast remains under investigation, but that the flow of natural gas to the home had been cut off by firefighters before the explosion shortly before 8:30 p.m.
Penn said police officers responded to the home at 844 North Burlington Street around 4:45 p.m. Monday because someone had fired “a flare-type gun” in the air more than 30 times. Officers tried to engage with the suspect, but had no success, Penn said.
They eventually got a warrant to look for weapons in the house, but attempts to contact the suspect were still unsuccessful, Penn said. Officers then breached the front door of the home. At that point, the officer believe that gunshots came from the residence, Penn said. He said officers then deployed “nonflammable” chemical irritants in an unsuccessful effort to flush the person out of the home. The explosion occurred after the officers retreated.
[…]
Neighbors were evacuated as a precaution, said Capt. Nate Hiner of the Arlington County Fire Department. Then, as police approached, the suspect fired several rounds from what authorities described as a firearm inside the home. At about 8:25 p.m., the house exploded.
The neighbor who described the explosion said police had spent a long time trying to get the occupant of the house to emerge. They kept saying “come out,” the neighbor said.
She said she heard a voice from inside the house asking to “let me go.” That account could not be confirmed by police. The neighbor spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about privacy and her own safety.
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Mr. Yoo allegedly fired that flare gun some 30-40 times out of his residence before police arrived. We cannot go into any further detail about his social media pages because all have been scrubbed. Neighbors also said that Yoo covered his windows with aluminum foil (via Fox News):
Although his LinkedIn profile appears to have been disabled, Yoo preserved some of his posts on a YouTube page along with silent videos showing court filings from some of his failed lawsuits. Two of the videos showing his recent LinkedIn posts appeared to have been removed Tuesday morning. Police said they were aware of his "concerning social media posts" at the briefing.
The posts refer to his ex-wife as a "witch," and anti-U.S. slogans including "#F---AMERICA" and quotes from Noam Chomsky.
The profile description claims he is a "Former Head of Information and Physical Security for international telecommunication company."
"I gave THEM / Y'ALL every opportunity to 'do the right thing' and all I see is America's hypocrisy, corruption, fraud, conspiracy…" the bio continues.
Alex Wilson, a neighbor who recorded video of the explosion, described Yoo in an interview with the local outlet Arlington Now as a "recluse" who covered his windows in aluminum foil.
We’ll keep you updated.
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