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A commercial burglary incident led San Jose police to an underground bunker at a homeless encampment containing thousands of dollars in stolen items.
“The investigation led them to a homeless encampment,” the San Jose Police Department said Tuesday on Twitter, adding that they located an “underground bunker” containing “approximately $100,000 worth of stolen goods.”
Pictures included in the post show a bunker built into the side of a creek, with items recovered including dozens of power tools, construction equipment, and three shotguns accompanied by boxes of ammunition.
Police say the bunker was elaborate and was equipped with electricity, which they believed was “plugged into somebody else’s source.”
Entrance to an underground bunker under a homeless encampment in San Jose.
(San Jose Police Department)
Six people were arrested in the case on a “a variety of charges,” while the items “will be returned to the victims, including the locally owned business.”
The discovery has caused concern among local residents, who expressed fears that more such bunkers could be spread throughout the city and that their homes and businesses could be targeted in the thefts.
Power tools discovered at a homeless encampment containing an underground bunker in San Jose.
(San Jose Police Department)
“I imagine there are probably several more places like that around town, with just how frequently tools in specific are being taken from construction sites,” resident Ashley King, whose family owns a construction company, told ABC7 News.
King, a teacher at a nearby school, also expressed concerns over the weapons found amid a recent wave of recent mass shootings.
Room containing stolen goods at a homeless encampment’s underground bunker in San Jose.
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“To see weapons like that, rifles, stuff that could do damage, serious damage,” she said. “Weapons that could hurt anybody, especially children, from far away, with precision… That is just so incredibly disturbing.”
Stolen guns at a homeless encampment’s underground bunker in San Jose.
(San Jose Police Department)
In a statement provided to Fox News, the San Jose Police Department said they “don’t have information as to how widespread or a number on how many bunkers/encampments exist like this in San José,” but pointed to an updated count of the homeless population in the city, which is up 11% this year and stands at 6,739.
