A house in Arlington, Virginia, exploded on Monday evening as police were attempting to execute a search warrant.
Several photos and videos of the house explosion posted to social media show a massive explosion suddenly rocking the house and surrounding area as pieces are seen flying through the air.
One witness, Mark Raymond, posted a photo to X showing the explosion from his balcony.
“Heard a loud explosion and felt my building shake in Arlington and I can see this from my balcony,” Raymond wrote.
Heard a loud explosion and felt my building shake in Arlington and I can see this from my balcony. pic.twitter.com/ZaVT3RsZtn
— Mark Raymond 🥥🌴 (@markraymond) December 5, 2023
The Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) revealed that officers were on the scene investigating a suspect who had discharged a flare gun at the home and warned residents to “avoid the area.”
POLICE ACTIVITY: ACPD is in the 800 block of N. Burlington Street investigating a suspect who has discharged a flare gun from his residence. Expect continued police activity and avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/IGFF3D1Ed2
— ArlingtonCountyPD (@ArlingtonVaPD) December 5, 2023
“As officers were attempting to execute a search warrant at the residence, the suspect discharged several rounds inside the home,” the ACPD wrote in another post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Subsequently, an explosion occurred at the residence and officers continue to investigate the circumstances of the explosion.”
Officers from the ACPD were dispatched to the residence around 4:45 p.m. after receiving reports of shots fired. After an initial investigation determined that a flare gun had been discharged 30 to 40 times inside the residence, officers obtained a search warrant and reportedly attempted to make contact with the suspect through the use of the telephone and loudspeakers, the ACPD said in a statement.
A witness informed WTOP that at the time of the explosion, ACPD had been attempting to coax the suspect out of his residence.
“And they’re talking to him. And then next thing you know, the house blows up,” the witness said. “It’s a duplex and it’s collapsed the entire side and I don’t know about the other side of the duplex. I’m just hoping that people next door got out. And [officials] are now chasing us off the street with all the fire trucks and everything because we have [natural] gas in the neighborhood.”
The ACPD reported in a later update around 9:35 p.m. that there were minor injuries and nobody had been transported to the hospital.
However, ACPD spokesperson Ashley Savage told reporters that officials had been unable to enter the home and were unable to confirm that there had been deaths, noting that the suspect had been inside at the time of the explosion, according to NBC News.
“At this point, we’re only aware of one individual who was inside the home,” Savage told the outlet.