An explosion that tore apart a house in Arlington, Va., on Monday night is believed to have killed its 56-year-old resident, who had been involved in a standoff with police officers before the blast, authorities said Tuesday.
James Yoo, who lived in the house at 844 North Burlington Street, is believed to have died in the massive blast that sent flames, smoke and debris raining down on the neighborhood, County Police Chief Andy Penn said at a news briefing. Investigators found human remains at the scene of the blast and are still trying to determine the person’s identity, but Penn said in all likelihood it is Yoo.
The standoff that preceded the explosion involved suspected gunfire from inside the house as police officers were trying to execute a search warrant, looking for weapons, Penn said. Arlington’s Assistant Fire Chief Jason R. Jenkins told reporters that the cause of the blast remains under investigation, but that the flow of natural gas to the home had been cut off by firefighters before the explosion shortly before 8:30 p.m.
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Penn said police officers responded to the home at 844 North Burlington Street around 4:45 p.m. Monday because someone had fired “a flare-type gun” in the air more than 30 times. Officers tried to engage with the suspect, but had no success, Penn said.
They eventually got a warrant to look for weapons in the house, but attempts to contact the suspect were still unsuccessful, Penn said. Officers then breached the front door of the home. At that point, the officers believe that gunshots came from the residence, Penn said. He said officers then deployed “nonflammable” chemical irritants in an unsuccessful effort to flush the person out of the home. The explosion occurred after the officers retreated.
No one outside the residence was seriously hurt in the explosion, Penn said.
Yoo made “concerning social media posts” before the explosion, but Penn did not detail them.
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The blast shattered windows, was heard for miles, and attracted the attention of top Virginia officials as far away as Richmond.
The blast was a “major explosion” and “very very scary,” U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said in a message on X, formerly Twitter.
A neighbor who witnessed it from nearby called it an “enormous explosion” that shook her house, littered it with broken glass, and left her shaken. “It took me like an hour to stop quivering,” she said.
Arlington County Police spokeswoman Ashley Savage said police received a call about 4:45 p.m. Monday about a flare gun being fired at a home on the 800 block of Burlington Street. Video posted online showed one or two orange flares, of the sort used to summon help or signal an emergency, arcing up into the air around dusk, before settling to the ground. Police later said in a statement that the suspect fired the flare gun 30 or 40 times from his home into the neighborhood.
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After that, police tried to execute a search warrant at the house related to the flare gun discharge, Savage said. She said that the person inside declined to cooperate. Police tried to reach the person via telephone and loudspeakers before trying to serve the warrant, officials said.
Neighbors were evacuated as a precaution, said Capt. Nate Hiner of the Arlington County Fire Department. Then, as police approached, the suspect fired several rounds from what authorities described as a firearm inside the home. At about 8:25 p.m., the house exploded.
The neighbor who described the explosion said police had spent a long time trying to get the occupant of the house to emerge. They kept saying “come out,” the neighbor said.
She said she heard a voice from inside the house asking to “let me go.” That account could not be confirmed by police. The neighbor spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about privacy and her own safety.
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Henry McFarland, 72, said he heard a boom that resembled a thunderclap about 8 p.m. He felt his house, which sits about half a mile from the site of the explosion, shake for about one second.
McFarland, president of the Bluemont Civic Association — an Arlington organization that encompasses streets including North Burlington — peered out a window in his home, checking for signs of what had happened. It wasn’t until he walked toward the end of his street, where several neighbors had gathered, that he saw red and orange flames in the distance, he said.
McFarland, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said that he couldn’t recall another explosion within the Bluemont Civic Association’s boundaries.
“We will look forward to finding out what happened, what lessons we may possibly learn from this,” he said.
Authorities declared the fire under control late Monday.
The flame and the smoke could be seen throughout Arlington and even in D.C. neighborhoods far from the blast site. An aide to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said he was “closely monitoring the situation.”
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