Terrifying new bodycam footage shows moment paranoid conspiracy theorist’s Virginia home explodes after firing more than 30 flares at cops
New police bodycam video shows the moment a conspiracy theorist blew his own Virginia home in pieces.
James Yoo, 56, deliberately used gasoline to set his house on fire, killing him and causing an explosion that was felt by people miles away.
Arlington County officials showed bodycam video showing the sequence of events that led to Yoo’s home exploding with multiple police officers in dangerously close proximity.
Part of the video shows the windshield of a police car being shattered by debris from the explosion, while another part shows an officer being blown back by the explosion and running away.
Investigators said Yoo, who believed his neighbors were spies trying to kill him, acted alone and that this explosion was not linked to terrorists.
Yoo’s house is seen from the vantage point of a police car parked on his front lawn moments before it erupted into a fireball
Pictured: The split second when the entire house explodes, which authorities say was deliberately set by Yoo
Seconds later the house collapses. Investigators said Yoo acted alone and did not cooperate with terrorist groups
Officers were dispatched to Yoo’s home on December 4 when an officer in the area heard what sounded like shots.
When he went to investigate, he was greeted by several nervous residents at Fields Park, near Yoo’s home.
As more emergency calls came in from neighbors reporting gunfire or fireworks, officers determined that flares were being shot from the back window of a duplex on North Burlington Street.
Officers arrived at the duplex where one of the units was owned by Yoo. The residents on the other side of the duplex were evacuated as police tried to initiate a dialogue with Yoo, who shot more than 30 flares from his home that night.
Investigators said they were unable to make contact with Yoo, and during the four-hour standoff, neighbors told police he was a recluse who had recently covered his windows with garbage bags. WUSA9 reported.
Bizarre statements also appeared on his social media accusing his neighbors of conducting surveillance operations on his home and passing information to US authorities.
The view of the explosion from the back of the duplex. Yoo had barricaded herself inside
The bodycam shows an officer being blown back by the sudden explosion. After shouting some obscenities. the officer turns and runs away
‘[Names redacted] and her two children are spies and act as buffers that collect my information and then deliver it to their handlers,” Yoo wrote in the unhinged social media post.
He claimed they were “working with the witch and the alien” and plotting a “surprise attack” against him on December 7, the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The messages refer to his ex-wife as a “witch” and anti-American slogans, including “#F—AMERICA.”
He ranted, “This is how white people operate and have the luxury of outnumbering all other ‘races’ in ‘Merica’ by almost 7 to 1.”
When authorities became aware of some of the various anti-government posts, they were able to obtain a search warrant to search his home and recover any weapons that may have been there.
However, Yoo refused to retreat from his barricaded position in the house, and law enforcement attempts to gain entry by firing pepper spray and deploying tear gas were unsuccessful, WUSA9 reported.
An officer on a nearby sidewalk witnesses the explosion at Yoo’s home, which engulfed a police car parked on the lawn
Before the house exploded, Yoo is seen firing flares out the back window, where they landed in a nearby park and an elementary school.
James Yoo, the Arlington man suspected of causing an explosion in his Virginia home, was a paranoid conspiracy theorist who believed the U.S. government wanted to kill him with the help of his neighbors
The house suddenly exploded when officers tried to enter through a window around 8:25 p.m.
The resulting inferno killed no one other than Yoo, whose remains were found the next day, but local residents were certainly traumatized.
Emily Saxon, a 30-year-old nurse, said the explosion sounded like an “earthquake” and the shock waves felt as if a car had driven through her living room.
Sam Kin, a 25-year-old counselor who lived next door to Yoo, filmed police trying to lure the 56-year-old out of the house.
He said the explosion was “traumatizing” after he was hit by the shock wave.
“I’m going to see my therapist right now,” Kim told DailyMail.com.
There were no serious injuries to police and 60 firefighters responded to the scene to battle the flames.
During their search through the rubble on December 5, police found gasoline canisters, three guns, two flare guns, magazines, ammunition and more flares, WUSA9 reported.
Police found gasoline canisters, three guns, two flare guns, magazines, ammunition and more flares
Pictured: the aftermath of the explosion that destroyed Yoo’s house
A relative of Yoo told WUSA9 that he had a history of mental illness but refused any treatment for his alleged symptoms, which included psychosis, catatonic behavior and paranoia.
His other conspiratorial beliefs included the idea that there was a link between the September 11 attacks and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election.
That idea was raised by his submissions in a lawsuit Yoo filed against family members, including ex-wife Stephanie, and Rochester General Hospital for allegedly holding him against his will.
The suit was dismissed as ‘frivolous’.
‘Plaintiff believes that he is the victim of a conspiracy against him by his sister, his ex-wife and others, including RGH. For example, plaintiff believes that his sister, ex-wife and RGH conspired to prevent him from obtaining an attorney,” according to a court document.
His wife divorced him on March 30, 2017, citing “the irreparable breakdown of their relationship.”
Yoo was told to pay her the sum of $80,000 and buy her out of her share of their now-destroyed former marital home for the sum of $150,000.
