A man suspected of firing a flare gun from an Arlington, Virginia, home dozens of times Monday night before the home exploded and rocked a neighborhood with a powerful blast is presumed dead, and authorities say he had allegedly made concerning posts on social media.
James Yoo, 56, fired a "flare-type gun" from inside the duplex more than 30 times, Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Penn said police responded to the duplex where Yoo lived on North Burlington Street about 4:45 p.m. Monday after reports of shots fired. After attempts to communicate with Yoo were unsuccessful, police obtained a search warrant.
Officers tried to make contact with him by telephone and loudspeakers, but Yoo stayed inside without responding, police said.
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Then, multiple gunshots were fired at officers as they tried to breach the front door of the home and execute the search warrant, Penn said.
"Despite the ongoing threat to themselves, ACPD staff continued to try and engage with the suspect to safely bring them into custody," Penn said.
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Penn said officers couldn't locate the source of the suspected gunfire or its intended target. They began to deploy nonflammable, less-lethal chemical munitions to multiple areas within the residence where they believed the suspect was hiding.
Then, about 8:30 p.m., the house exploded, shooting flames and debris two stories into the air.
Three police officers suffered minor injuries, police said. Penn said there were no serious injuries.
Assistant Fire Chief Jason Jenkins said authorities turned off the gas service to the home and evacuated nearby residents about 90 minutes before the explosion.
“I’m not going to speculate on cause or origin,” he said of the blast.
“The fire department personnel absolutely saved lives” by evacuating residents of the neighborhood, Jenkins said.
Suspect has history of complaints, lawsuits
While Yoo is presumed dead, Penn said a medical examiner would work to identify human remains found at the scene and determine the cause and manner of death.
Yoo lived on one side of the duplex, and first responders helped his neighbors get out during the hours-long standoff that preceded the explosion, authorities said.
Penn said an investigation into the circumstances of the explosion was ongoing, and his department was looking into Yoo's history on social media.
"We are aware of concerning social media posts allegedly made by the suspect, and these will be reviewed as part of the ongoing criminal investigation," Penn said.
Yoo publicly aired grievances against multiple people in his life. On LinkedIn, he recently posted paranoid rants about his neighbors and a former co-worker.
He also filed multiple federal lawsuits that were dismissed as frivolous against his ex-wife, younger sister, a moving company and the New York Supreme Court.
Each of four lawsuits filed between 2018 and 2022 case were dismissed, while some were described by judges as “convoluted” or “confused.”
In 2018, Yoo filed a 163-page federal lawsuit in New York against his then-wife, younger sister and a hospital after he said he was committed against his will. Yoo alleged conspiracy and deprivation of his rights, among other crimes.
The sprawling complaint included biographical details, such as who was at his wedding, but also wove in facts about who was president of the United States at the time. Yoo described how his then-wife drove him to Rochester General Hospital in November 2015 “against his will.”
Yoo denied having any thoughts of suicide or prior depression. He cited hospital records that reference a suicide note that he left for his wife, which he said he never wrote.
Yoo also referenced many attempts to contact the FBI. He wrote that he believed that a New York Times reporter he saw on television was someone who had claimed to be an FBI agent and came to his house in 2017. He said the person warned him against further attempts to communicate with a U.S. Attorney in western New York or face a harassment charge.
David Sundburg, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said Yoo 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," Sundburg said. "The information contained therein and the nature of those communications did not lead to opening any FBI investigations."
'It felt like we got attacked'
Stunning video shows the home bursting into flames and collapsing.
Police vehicles could be seen outside the brick house. A blast suddenly erupts and blows away the front porch. The roof flies into the air and debris and sparks rain down as flames grow and car alarms blare. People can be heard shouting in disbelief as clouds of black smoke billow.
Sam Kim, whose backyard is nearby, captured a video of a SWAT team trying to coax the suspect out of the house.
“Come to the front door with your hands up,” someone can be heard saying in the video.
Kim said he heard the police talking to the suspect with a megaphone. They told him to come out peacefully, and they weren’t going to leave.
He also heard them use a battering ram on the front door, gunshots and then the blast.
“Then we fell back. My housemate and I like fell backwards, and it knocked down a couple of windows,” Kim said.
Many neighbors said they heard and felt the huge explosion.
"I was in the back of my house, and I had been hearing prior to this some sort of firecracker sorts of sounds, and then suddenly there's a loud boom, and my entire house is shaking," neighbor Ann-Elise Quinn said. "All the lights went off immediately."
One resident said she and her roommate had just arrived home nearby when they heard “gunshot-sounding things.” Moments later, “it felt like we got attacked. I got pushed forward” Sarah Wilhoite said.
They ran outside and saw flames. “It was really scary,” she said. “It really did feel like something was attacking us.”
“You could feel the sound concussion,” resident Bob Maynes said. “I’ve been here for 50 years and I never experienced anything like that.”
Quinn said she saw flares coming from the house in the afternoon and initially thought someone may have been "goofing off on an afternoon."
"But then after about 20 of them, I start to think, 'This is concerning. Maybe somebody should call the police,'" she said. "There was a police unit that was going down the street and then took a turn around the corner down to the cul-de-sac where he was, and it looked like they gave him a talking to."
Arlington County firefighters had control of the fire and were battling small spot fires as of 10:40 p.m. The scene is about a half-mile west of the Ballston-MU Metro station, north of Wilson Boulevard.
The FBI Washington Field Office and the ATF's Washington Field Division are assisting in the ongoing investigation.
The White House monitored developments on the house explosion, a spokeswoman said.
“Our thoughts are with the police officers that were injured in that explosion,” Olivia Dalton, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. “We’re grateful to law enforcement that handled that situation very swiftly.”
Streets in the area were still shut down Tuesday.
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Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
