STOCKTON, Calif. — 7 pm update:
According to a tweet from the San Joaquin Sheriff's Office, all devices found have been rendered safe. People who were evacuated due to the Bristol Avenue incident are now allowed to return to their homes.
Deputies will continue to investigate.
Original Story:
Several homes in a Stockton neighborhood have been evacuated after San Joaquin County Sheriff’s deputies found several explosive devices throughout a house in the 1900 block of Bristol Avenue, Wednesday morning.
The incident started just before 4 a.m. after an ambulance was called to the neighborhood for an unknown injury. Investigators said because of the “evasiveness” of the caller, a deputy was also sent along with the first responders.
Once arriving on scene, the deputy said he learned that a man suffered an injury to his hand from an explosive device he had been handling. Everyone in that house was then ordered out and the sheriff’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team (EOD) was called out to investigate further. At the same time, authorities began evacuating all of the homes on Bristol Avenue and Marine Avenue, the sheriff’s office said.
According to the sheriff’s office, after searching the house the EOD team found at least eight other explosive devices. Because of the number of devices found, the Lodi Police EOD team was called in to help out.
“There’s a variety, they are all man made, there’s some pipe bombs, as well as some that include fireworks attached," Deputy Sandra Mendez of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office said. “I really can’t stipulate as to why this happened I don’t have that answer, but they are spread throughout the house so his intentions were not good."
Authorities have not said exactly what kind of explosive devices have been found. The scene is still active, and residents are being asked to avoid the area.
