Police say it appears James Yoo turned on his stove, waited for gas to build up inside the house, and then set it alight.
A home explosion has rocked a neighborhood outside of Washington D.C.. Police were trying to issue a search warrant after they say 30 flares were fired, leading to the evacuation of several homes after the explosion. The explosion happened while the suspect was still in the house.
The blast, captured on cellphone camera, ripped the house apart, sending flames and debris into the air. The fireball lit up the night sky in Arlington, Virginia and shockwaves were felt miles away.
The duplex, which consisted of two connected two-bedroom homes, was reduced to a pile of charred rubble. A car in the driveway was left burnt. The blast scattered debris and neighboring windows shattered from the force of the explosion.
On Monday afternoon, neighbors say the man who lives in the house, James Yoo, started firing 30 to 40 flares from his backyard. When police arrived and tried to make contact with Yoo, they said he opened fire at them. As authorities were moving in, the house exploded.
Neighbors say while they were stunned by the blast, they were not entirely surprised.
The homeowner is described as a “paranoid recluse” who had “covered his windows with aluminum foil.”
Yoo’s social media accounts are filled with rants about the police, the government, and his neighbors, who he described as “spies” living under “assumed names” to monitor him and report back to their “handlers.”
“The individual had previously communicated with the FBI, via phone calls, online tips, and letters over a number of years. I would characterize these communications as primarily complaints about alleged frauds he believed were perpetrated against him,” authorities said.
Police say it appears Yoo turned on his stove, waited for gas to build up inside the house, and then set it alight.
Yoo is presumed to be deceased, authorities said. No one apart from Yoo was seriously injured.
