Homeless Man Who Discovered Bomb In New Jersey Given Home And Possible Job

Recently, New Jersey was rocked by bomb threats after a homeless man discovered a bag which contained an explosive device.

Lee Parker was in need of a backpack for an interview, and having only had a plastic bag to carry around his possessions for years, he became desperate to find one.

Luckily, he found a backpack on top of a bin in a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and took it for himself.

After walking with the bag for a bit, he checked its contents only to find an explosive device. He and his friend, Ivan White, who he found the bag with, carefully took it to a secluded area where they could leave the bag and then inform the police.

The luck that Lee thought he had stumbling upon the bag turned into a huge amount of luck for New Jersey, as a lot of lives were saved.

Credit: Donald Goncalves

Police were able to dispose of the bomb and since then Lee and Ivan have both been hailed as heroes.

Locals were thankful for their intervention, with one even starting a GoFundMe page to show appreciation for their acts.

Donald Goncalves, a life-long resident of Elizabeth, set up the fundraiser and is now the spokesperson for the two men.

"I care a lot about my town," Goncalves said. "I used to be a commuter to New York myself. It touched me in a very profound way. How could I take what could have been a devastating moment and turn it into something positive?"

So far, over $28,000 (£21,600) has been raised, which will be split three ways between them and the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless.

The non-profit homeless organisation has already managed to house Lee, and he is now wanted for talk shows.

Credit: Donald Goncalves

Unfortunately, he was unable to make the interview that he needed the backpack for as he was still being interviewed by police. That doesn't matter now though, as according to Goncalves, a food company in New Jersey has been in touch about giving Lee a job.

"I'm just glad I was able to realise what the situation was and react in such a way that, thank goodness, no one got hurt," Lee said in an interview with ABC7NY. "Hero? No. I wouldn't go that far. [I was] doing the right thing."

He now has two backpacks.

Mark McGowan

Mark is a journalist at LADbible, who joined in 2015 after a year as a freelance writer. In the past he blogged for independent football fan channel Redmen TV, after graduating from Staffordshire University with degrees in journalism and English literature. He has worked on campaigns such as UOKM8? and IIOC.