Suspicious package that shut down VTA light rail station in San Jose deemed safe

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- An early 911 call in San Jose shut down VTA light rail trains for several hours Tuesday morning, as bomb squads tried to safely determine what suspicious device was left on the train platform. Thankfully, it was deemed not to be an explosive.

With a BART fire shutting down one mode of public transportation in the South Bay, many flocked over to VTA light rail trains to get to where they needed to go.

A suspicious container at the Karina light rail station halted trains in Downtown San Jose, leading to a massive response and traffic closure along the usually busy First Street.

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"Deputies located a suspicious package, which appears to be a larger-type thermos container with some type of electronic component attached to this device," Santa Clara Co. Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Russell Davis said.

The surrounding businesses were told to shelter in place while the bomb squad determined what was sitting near a bench at the station following an 8:30 a.m. 911 call.

The sheriff's office later found out it was not an explosive device, but rather a concrete test cylinder used by San Jose Public Works. These cylinders are used to determine the compressive strength of concrete.

A City of San Jose spokesperson told us the cylinder came from Charcot and First Street, and it was stolen and left on the platform by a member of the public.

But bomb squad robots helped reassure that there was no threat.

"Their job is, essentially, to conduct x-rays and find out what do we have and how many devices do we have?" Davis said. "We want to make sure we put all puzzle pieces together to find out what do we have at this point."

A lot of commotion for a common item, but Sgt. Davis says calls like this are always taken seriously.

And with no threat to the public, Davis says this was good practice for deputies ahead of the Super Bowl and World Cup next year.

"We want to make sure that safety is the number one priority for community members within this area," Davis said.

The platform reopened around 11:30 a.m., allowing trains to start running again in what was a wild day of public transportation in the South Bay and beyond.