An emotional Officer James Wells told the media Sunday about an encounter with God. As one of the police officers responding to the scene prior to the explosion Christmas morning, he was on scene helping evacuate the public.
Before the recording began counting down to the coming explosion, Wells and his partner were parked right in front of the recreational vehicle, unaware that it was the vehicle in question. When asked to move the car and set up a perimeter, they did so.
Wells called for more backup to assist with evacuation. He began to look around the “high ground” for people on roofs or looking from parking garages, people who may have a secondary attack planned, he says in the video.
When going door to door during the evacuation, he heard the RV issue a 3-minute warning. At one point, he began walking back to his car to get his “heavy plates” in preparation for whatever was about to happen. He was told again to move the car, this time out of the blast radius.
He got out of the car and began to walk back toward the RV, he says, “This may not be politically correct, but this is my truth. I barely hear God tell me to turn around and go check on Topping,” his partner who was by herself down on Broadway. “And as I turn around, for me, it felt like I only took three steps and then the music stopped, and as I was walking back toward Topping, I see orange, and I hear a loud boom.”
To hear the rest of his story, watch the 4-minute video here.
Nashville police officer James Wells recalls the moment he heard the explosion: “I told myself to stay on my feet and stay alive” https://t.co/Kriaak5s4X pic.twitter.com/AvpUOeeFHb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 27, 2020
