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Loaded AK-47 Found In Vacant Dorchester Apartment

BOSTON (CBS) – Someone left behind a loaded AK-47 in a vacant Dorchester apartment, and now police have the gun.

Officers responded to a call for a weapon at a home on Homes Ave. late Wednesday morning. Police said when they got there, officers were directed to an apartment where they safely recovered a loaded AK-47 assault rifle.

A person working inside the apartment found the rifle while the apartment was being cleaned and prepared for new tenants, police said.

The rifle is among more than 600 illegal firearms recovered by Boston Police so far in 2017.

Neighbors near Homes Avenue are concerned about the potential for violence.

"I have a 12 year old, young children just in case anything was to happen and go off," said neighbor Dorothy Macholl.

AK47
A loaded AK-47 assault rifle was found in a vacant Dorchester apartment on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. (Boston Police Department photo)

Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans says it points to access that's too easy.

"We're trying our best but the community has to help us get these kids to understand and value life," he said.

The homeowner, who prefers to remain anonymous, says she had no idea the powerful weapon was in the unit.

"You question the safety of your family, just the safety of what's going on the streets of Boston right now. It's really scary," the woman said.

For Boston Police it was just the beginning. Over the next 12 hours, four more weapons were confiscated on Washington Street in Roxbury, Horan Way in Jamaica Plain, and Gove Street in East Boston, netting police three arrests.

Evans said they could also use help from the courts.

"It's frustrating for us for a kid to get a gun and within a day or two a judge releases them, they get a gun again and a gun again," Evans said.

In all, 600 illegal firearms have been seized so far this year, but in the Dorchester neighborhood it was too close.

"It could have been mayhem, it depends on the individual's perspective on what to do around here," said neighbor Sam Joseph.

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