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Authorities to give update on massive home explosion that rocked Arlington late last year – WTOP News

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Local and federal authorities are set to provide an update on the investigation into the massive explosion that leveled an Arlington County, Virginia, duplex late last year as officers tried to serve a search warrant.

A home is seen exploding from a distance, Monday night, Dec. 4, 2023, in Arlington, Va. Arlington County Police in a Virginia suburb of the nations capital are investigating an explosion at a residence where officers were trying to serve a search warrant Monday. The Arlington County Police Department said in a statement that the suspect fired several shots inside the home and that an explosion happened. Arlington is located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
(AP Photo)

AP Photo

a vehicle and other charred remains of the home — The charred remains of an Arlington, Virginia, home the day after it exploded.
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)

Officials are still investigating the explosion.
(WTOP/Luke Lukert)

Not Real News — FILE – Fire and police officials walk around the scene of a house explosion as an Arlington County Fire Department ladder truck sprays water down on the remains of the building on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, in Arlington, Va. On Friday, Dec. 8, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming an explosion at the home in Arlington, Monday night was caused by a firefight with U.S. federal agents that either ignited a gas pipeline or led a terrorist to set off a suicide vest.
(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

House Explosion Virginia — Fire and police officials walk around the scene of a house explosion as an Arlington County Fire Department ladder truck sprays water down on the remains of the building on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, in Arlington, Va.
(AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

The home’s owner, James Yoo, 56, was presumed killed in the Dec. 4 explosion.

Shortly before the blast, officers were attempting to enter the home to serve a search warrant after reports that Yoo was firing a flare gun from inside his home into the surrounding Bluemont neighborhood.

Police worked to evacuate surrounding homes, but when officers tried to come inside the home, it appeared Yoo shot multiple times at officers from a suspected firearm, authorities said. The explosion occurred just before 8:30 p.m., sending a large fireball into the sky and showering the surrounding area with debris.

Videos shared on social media captured the scene.

No officers or neighbors were hurt in the explosion, which shattered some windows and damaged a total of 10 other houses.

Authorities later said Yoo had posted paranoid rants about his neighbors and a former co-worker on LinkedIn and called an FBI tip line multiple times.

Between 2018 and 2022, Yoo also filed four lawsuits in federal court — all were dismissed. In a 2018 lawsuit in New York against his then-wife, younger sister and a hospital where Yoo said he was committed against his will, the judge ruled the suit was frivolous, and “the product of delusion or fantasy.”

WTOP staff and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Authorities to give update on massive home explosion that rocked Arlington late last year – WTOP News