House Explosion in North Arlington

[Anonymous]

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Beyond weird how giddy this man is after just witnessing a horrible explosion.

This guys reaction is very strange and I don't want to hear anything about shock--this ain't it. Something isn't right here.

He's high as a kite.

His demeanor is oddly excited, and not in, "I'm glad to still be alive" sort of way.

Maybe he was super stoked to be on tv or something?

Who cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:We live in the area and were told the suspect has tin foil covering his windows. Apparently the house was up for sale a few years ago but he also chased off potential buyers with a knife.

How the heck can someone’s mental health issues/danger to society be so obvious and yet we do nothing? Honestly this incident was a failure to this man as much as the surrounding neighbors. He clearly had paranoid delusions and was likely psychotic. Would have been better to stabilize him with medical treatment than deal with this fallout.

Yes, this is the current state of affairs with mental health, but it's been going on for decades, slowly getting worse. But while every person and every politician in the nation is lamenting the lack of access to mental health and lack of interventions, our lawmakers have been doing absolutely *nothing* about it, and meanwhile we sell everyone more and more weapons, because - it's not the guns!

Mental health access, and what can be done in accordance with the law as far as interventions go, is greatly diminished, while our nation has had an exponential increase in weapon ownership since the 2000s.


And yes, those were gun shots before the explosion. Kudos to our police and fire departments.

It's not just availability of beds. There is a nonprofit waiting to sue any locality that would make involuntary commitment easier.

CA just did it and Newsome signed the bill so it is possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple of blocks away and there was a very strong smell in the air last night after the explosion.

What kind of smell.

Quoted PP here, the smell was like what you experience after a major fireworks show is over. I didn't smell natural gas or anything (though, the smell probably wouldn't carry far from the house itself, what I was smelling was probably the charred remains of the house).

We lost a family home to fire. The smell is something else - even months after the event. When I went to collect personal items from what remained of the house, I couldn't get the stench off of my clothes. It's so foul.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Beyond weird how giddy this man is after just witnessing a horrible explosion.

This guys reaction is very strange and I don't want to hear anything about shock--this ain't it. Something isn't right here.

It's just 100% adrenaline. His body can't come down from it so he's still got all the nervous energy combined with being happy to be alive. Don't be so judgy.

+1
The PPs are idiotically parsing a normal reaction to a shocking event.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Beyond weird how giddy this man is after just witnessing a horrible explosion.

This guys reaction is very strange and I don't want to hear anything about shock--this ain't it. Something isn't right here.

He's high as a kite.

His demeanor is oddly excited, and not in, "I'm glad to still be alive" sort of way.

Maybe he was super stoked to be on tv or something?

Who cares?

The True Crime(TM) afficianados think he's involved. The he who smelt it dealt theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see they have kids. Does anybody know where they went to school? And if the school or an organization is raising funds or collecting donations for this family? Please link it here.

The kids go to Ashlawn. Extra counselors / support will be available for kids who need it. The school will send home materials for parents to support discussions at home. The PTA will coordinate collections and support from the school. The local Buy Nothing group is incredibly active as well. Please respect this family’s privacy and allow funds and goods to flow through a few point people who know them personally.
If you are not a neighbor, I would check the Arlington Neighbors helping Neighbors Facebook group.

Adding that many children play over on the field near where this person lived, and some saw the flares being shot off earlier in the day. They obviously heard the explosion, and saw all the emergency vehicles. Some of these kids are really scared, even though it didn’t affect their homes personally. This seems unfathomable to a child, a friend and classmate, losing their home to an explosion.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This is why I would never buy half of a duplex. Logistical nightmare.

That seems silly. So you would never buy a townhome or rowhouse? Because of a rare isolate incident with a crazy person? Do some research on the neighbors, and 99.99% of the time you will be fine. Don't buy a home adjacent to a house with covered up windows.

+1

Also, property owners are in the public record. Before making an offer, Google the people next to you to see if they post paranoid delusions.

Anyone with a mental illness should be put on a public watch-list, so home buyers can just google them, and avoid having to live near the mentally ill.

Agree.

I would not want any of those people in my neighborhood.

Do you even hear yourself? We do have something along the lines of basic civil rights left in this country. While I do agree that dangerous people should not be allowed to hurt others, I am NOT ok with the government creating watch lists of people who their neighbors have decided are a little "weird" so they must be dangerous. Was this man convicted of any crimes before yesterday? I bet not. So what are your grounds for "tracking" him? Putting crazy stuff on the internet? Half of DCUM would be on this list.

How about harassing federal officials, abusing public resources with frivolous lawsuits, and stalking/making threats against his neighbors. This wasn’t just a quirky homebody.

We should put all the mentally ill on a watchlist, so the rest of us can choose whether or not to avoid them.

We should put all of the gun owners on a watchlist so the rest of us can choose whether or not to avoid them.

YES YES YES.

Then anytime one enters somewhere ID is checked, an alert pops up that indicates this is a gun owner, just so people can heighten scrutiny around them in case they decide to resolve differences with their weapons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would never buy half of a duplex. Logistical nightmare.

That seems silly. So you would never buy a townhome or rowhouse? Because of a rare isolate incident with a crazy person? Do some research on the neighbors, and 99.99% of the time you will be fine. Don't buy a home adjacent to a house with covered up windows.

+1

Also, property owners are in the public record. Before making an offer, Google the people next to you to see if they post paranoid delusions.

Anyone with a mental illness should be put on a public watch-list, so home buyers can just google them, and avoid having to live near the mentally ill.

Agree.

I would not want any of those people in my neighborhood.

Do you even hear yourself? We do have something along the lines of basic civil rights left in this country. While I do agree that dangerous people should not be allowed to hurt others, I am NOT ok with the government creating watch lists of people who their neighbors have decided are a little "weird" so they must be dangerous. Was this man convicted of any crimes before yesterday? I bet not. So what are your grounds for "tracking" him? Putting crazy stuff on the internet? Half of DCUM would be on this list.

How about harassing federal officials, abusing public resources with frivolous lawsuits, and stalking/making threats against his neighbors. This wasn’t just a quirky homebody.

We should put all the mentally ill on a watchlist, so the rest of us can choose whether or not to avoid them.

We should put all of the gun owners on a watchlist so the rest of us can choose whether or not to avoid them.

YES YES YES.

Then anytime one enters somewhere ID is checked, an alert pops up that indicates this is a gun owner, just so people can heighten scrutiny around them in case they decide to resolve differences with their weapons.

Me again, I say this as a member of a hunting family. Responsible gun-owners should not fear additional scrutiny!

[Anonymous]

Latest police update:

Based on the preliminary investigation of the incident, we believe the resident of the home, James Yoo, 56, of Arlington, VA is the involved suspect. The suspect was inside the residence at the time of the explosion. Human remains have been located at the scene which are presumed to be the suspect. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will work to positively identify the individual and determine cause and manner of death. Our investigation has now transferred into a recovery operation as we work to collect and process evidence. There is no ongoing threat to the community related to this incident and no outstanding suspects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I would never buy half of a duplex. Logistical nightmare.

That seems silly. So you would never buy a townhome or rowhouse? Because of a rare isolate incident with a crazy person? Do some research on the neighbors, and 99.99% of the time you will be fine. Don't buy a home adjacent to a house with covered up windows.

+1

Also, property owners are in the public record. Before making an offer, Google the people next to you to see if they post paranoid delusions.

Anyone with a mental illness should be put on a public watch-list, so home buyers can just google them, and avoid having to live near the mentally ill.

Agree.

I would not want any of those people in my neighborhood.

Do you even hear yourself? We do have something along the lines of basic civil rights left in this country. While I do agree that dangerous people should not be allowed to hurt others, I am NOT ok with the government creating watch lists of people who their neighbors have decided are a little "weird" so they must be dangerous. Was this man convicted of any crimes before yesterday? I bet not. So what are your grounds for "tracking" him? Putting crazy stuff on the internet? Half of DCUM would be on this list.

How about harassing federal officials, abusing public resources with frivolous lawsuits, and stalking/making threats against his neighbors. This wasn’t just a quirky homebody.

We should put all the mentally ill on a watchlist, so the rest of us can choose whether or not to avoid them.

We should put all of the gun owners on a watchlist so the rest of us can choose whether or not to avoid them.

Agree. It is no fun living next to someone who has mental issues AND guns. No thanks. It is enough to make one want to move house.

No PP meant just guns, she did not add the qualifier of mental issues. So your "agree" is inaccurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple of blocks away and there was a very strong smell in the air last night after the explosion.

What kind of smell.

Quoted PP here, the smell was like what you experience after a major fireworks show is over. I didn't smell natural gas or anything (though, the smell probably wouldn't carry far from the house itself, what I was smelling was probably the charred remains of the house).

Natural gas has no smell. "Natural gas has no odor. Gas companies add a harmless chemical called mercaptan to give it its distinctive “rotten egg” smell. All natural gas and propane pipeline gas in Connecticut is odorized. If you smell gas near an appliance, it may be just a pilot light that has gone out or a burner valve that is open slightly."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a couple of blocks away and there was a very strong smell in the air last night after the explosion.

What kind of smell.

Quoted PP here, the smell was like what you experience after a major fireworks show is over. I didn't smell natural gas or anything (though, the smell probably wouldn't carry far from the house itself, what I was smelling was probably the charred remains of the house).

Natural gas has no smell. "Natural gas has no odor. Gas companies add a harmless chemical called mercaptan to give it its distinctive “rotten egg” smell. All natural gas and propane pipeline gas in Connecticut is odorized. If you smell gas near an appliance, it may be just a pilot light that has gone out or a burner valve that is open slightly."

Why did you mention CT?

[Anonymous]

Arlnow is reporting:

“…Arlington police then “began to deploy non-flammable, less-lethal chemical munitions” in several parts of the home they thought Yoo might be hiding, in an attempt to get him to surrender. Shortly thereafter, the house erupted in a giant fireball that sent debris soaring through the air. Some debris was found several streets away, authorities said.”

What chemicals were they pumping into the house just before it exploded?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlnow is reporting:

“…Arlington police then “began to deploy non-flammable, less-lethal chemical munitions” in several parts of the home they thought Yoo might be hiding, in an attempt to get him to surrender. Shortly thereafter, the house erupted in a giant fireball that sent debris soaring through the air. Some debris was found several streets away, authorities said.”

What chemicals were they pumping into the house just before it exploded?

Tear gas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The owner of the duplex also owned a house in McLean near McLean Central Park that he apparently inherited from his father. Sold it for slightly over $1M in 2021 and it got torn down and replaced by a $3.75M McMansion that sold this summer.

Good, between this million and the land value of the Arlington duplex, there should be plenty of assets for the victim family to recover after they win their slam-dunk lawsuit against this man’s estate.