Suspected Molotov Cocktails, 22,000 rounds of ammunition found at San Jose shooting suspect’s home
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KION) The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office has been searching the home of Sam Cassidy, the man accused of shooting and killing 9 people at the Valley Transit Authority before taking his own life, and the department released information about what they found at the home.
San Jose Police and Fire responded to the home on Angmar Court at about 6:30 Wednesday for a report of a structure fire, and they later learned that the home belonged to Cassidy.
Once the fire was under control, detectives with the Sheriff's Office got a search warrant that they served along with The ATF, the FBI and San Jose police.
In the house, investigators said they found multiple cans of gasoline, suspected Molotov Cocktails, 12 guns and about 22,000 rounds of ammunition.
"Based on current evidence obtained by Sheriff's Office Detectives at the VTA yard and the suspect's residence, it is clear that this was a planned event and the suspect was prepared to use his firearms to take as many lives as he possibly could had Sheriff's Deputies not made entry to stop his rampage," the Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement.
They also believe that Cassidy "coordinated the destruction of his residence." He reportedly rigged an unusual time-delay method to ensure the house caught fire while he was out, using a “pot full of bullets on the stove” along with an accelerant, sheriff’s Deputy Russell Davis told the Mercury News of San Jose.
San Jose police Officer Steve Aponte said investigators were slowed down by clutter blocking the home’s passageways, calling it “a possible hoarder situation.”
“We can just say that the items in the residence were so greatly piled up that it was hampering the investigation and the access to the locations that they needed to check,” he said.
During initial searches of the VTA rail yard and Cassidy's home, investigators said they found items that could be used for explosives, but no explosives were found at the rail yard.
Although Cassidy's motive behind the shooting is still not determined, the Sheriff's Office says he was described as being disgruntled by his coworkers.
