Los Angeles Police Department officials said Friday that an investigation has been launched after several suspicious devices were found Thursday at the site of a future homeless shelter in Venice.
LAPD responded to a call at about 5:15 p.m. Thursday at the corner of Sunset Avenue and Main Street about a possible explosive. Police describe the devices as small pipe bombs with carbon dioxide canisters.
While police say all devices were deemed safe and removed from the area, one LAPD source said the intent for those devices to detonate was there. But from the shoddy construction, it was clear they weren't going to work.
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin said, "Streets were closed and nearby homes were evacuated for several hours while the LAPD Bomb Squad analyzed the devices."
Bonin, who represents Venice and the coastal region of the city, said the devices were found at the future site of A Bridge Home facility.
The Bridge Home site is intended to help homeless people transition into permanent supportive housing, units for which the city is also building.
The homeless shelter was approved for the site last year, and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge rejected a lawsuit from the Venice Stakeholders Association in December, which claimed the site was too close to homes and schools.
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"This is an appalling incident perpetrated by a disturbed and cowardly person or persons," Bonin stated on Twitter. "If it was meant to slow or halt progress on providing bridge housing, it failed. It is unacceptable and inhumane for people to be living and dying in sidewalk encampments in our neighborhoods. It is imperative that we get people off the streets. We will not be intimated, and we will not back down from providing solutions to our homelessness crisis."
LAPD's Major Crimes Division is investigating the incident, and anyone with information is asked to call 1-877-527-3247.
Hetty Chang contributed to this report.
