The FBI is preparing to detonate explosive devices found in the home of the gunman who killed nine people at a light rail yard in San Jose on Wednesday (May 26). The San Jose Police Department advised residents to avoid the area as investigators continue to search for evidence.
Investigators are trying to salvage what evidence they can from the shooter's home, which was set to burn down once the shooting rampage began.
"There's a high probability that we lost the ability to do exploitation of (any) devices," Craig Fair, FBI special agent in charge in San Francisco, told KNTV. "The home was incinerated. The second floor collapsed."
While authorities have not determined a motive for the massacre, they said the shooter was "a highly disgruntled VTA employee for many years." He was scheduled to have a disciplinary hearing on the day of the shooting after receiving multiple complaints about his conduct. Those complaints included his use of racial slurs and comments he made about having guns and explosives.
The shooter, who took his own life when police responded to the mass shooting, had been interviewed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in 2016 after finding books about terrorism and notes about his hatred for his employer.
Police recovered two semi-automatic handguns and 11 loaded 12-round magazines, which are considered illegal in California, from the gunman's body. They also recovered a third handgun and more than 20 12-round magazines. While searching the light rail yard, investigators found "materials for bombs, detonator cords, the precursors to an explosive" in a locker belonging to the shooter.
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