A death investigation in Canoga Park took an unexpected and dangerous turn Tuesday morning after officers searching a home found a grenade and ammunition inside, forcing evacuations and shutting down nearby streets. Officers responded around 10:41 a.m. to a home near Variel Avenue and Gault Street, where the discovery quickly escalated what began as a death investigation into a public safety response.
According to ABC7 Los Angeles, police were investigating a death in Canoga Park when the search of the residence turned up the explosive device and ammunition. The station reports that officers found the items during a search of the home, and that the discovery is what triggered the evacuations and closures in the surrounding area.
Evacuations Ordered Near Variel and Gault
Once the grenade and ammunition were located inside the residence, evacuations were issued and nearby streets were closed, per the station's report. The exact scope of who was evacuated and for how long has not been detailed publicly. Police have not released additional information about the person who died, and the circumstances surrounding that death remain unclear.
The investigation remains ongoing, the same account notes, with no word yet on charges, a cause of death, or the disposition of the grenade and ammunition recovered from the home.
Not the First Grenade Scare in the Region
Canoga Park's discovery joins a string of similar incidents that have rattled Southern California neighborhoods over the past year and a half. In January, grenades were found inside a home in Rosemead, prompting a nearby school to be placed on lockdown, according to NBC Los Angeles. In July, residents in Eagle Rock were temporarily evacuated after what appeared to be a grenade turned up in someone's backyard, ABC7 Los Angeles separately reported.
Other cases have involved people stumbling onto old ordnance while doing chores or trying to dispose of it themselves. A Compton resident found a grenade while cleaning a garage in June, leading to temporary evacuations, per CBS Los Angeles. And in 2025, a couple brought a military explosive device directly into a Los Angeles Police Department station in an attempt to get rid of it, forcing the evacuation of the Pacoima station and a nearby home, according to the Los Angeles Times.
What Remains Unknown
As of now, police have not disclosed who died in the Canoga Park home, what led to that death, or how the grenade and ammunition came to be there. The investigation is continuing, and no further details have been made public.
