Explosive Device Found, 'Stabilized' at Franklin Health Care Facility, Search For Suspect Underway

FRANKLIN, TN — A search is underway for a person of interest after an employee at NHC Cool Springs found what authorities are calling an improvised-explosive device inside her car earlier this morning.

At 7:15 a.m., Franklin Police were called to NHC Cool Springs on Cool Springs Boulevard to investigate a suspicious device. Officers found what appeared to be a bomb inside of an employee’s car. The device was discovered by an NHC employee who was ending her shift.

All 220 patients at the facility have been were relocated to safe portions of the facility, which is currently closed to the public. Franklin Fire Department, Williamson County’s EMS, Emergency Management, and Sheriff’s Office, along with Bomb Specialists from the Tennessee Highway Patrol and FBI were on-scene.

Authorities used a robot to "stabilize" the device around 1:50 p.m.. FPD Public Information Officer Charles Warner said the device was "sophisticated" and that it would have caused significant damage.

Franklin Police have identified Mitchell Hunter Oakes as a person of interest in this case. Oakes is 6’3”, 240 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Oakes may have ties to Crossville, Pikeville, and Cookeville. Oakes is a convicted felon with a violent history and extensive knowledge of bomb making and weapons. He is considered armed and dangerous, and currently wanted on a felony warrant out of Virginia.

Oakes and the woman who found the bomb have some kind of connection, though exactly what it is was not immediately clear.

"We have very strong reason to believe he is responsible because there is a history between these two. I am not absolutely positive of the relationship, but I do believe they are engaged in someway, whether they are married, used to be married, or otherwise romantically involved,” Warner said.

If you see Mitchell Oakes, call 9-1-1. Franklin Police and the ATF are offering a reward of up to $7,500 for information leading police to his whereabouts.

Image via Franklin Police