BOSTON — Mass Daily News has obtained explosive leaked photos that blow open the scandal surrounding Boston Fire Lieutenant Joshua Thompson.

The images show what appears to be a secret basement gun cave beneath his Milton home, including a firing lane with concrete walls and mounted targets, as well as the arsenal investigators seized: rifles, handguns, boxes of ammunition, and tactical gear spread across evidence tables.

A hero’s stunning fall

Thompson was once hailed as a hero — a decorated Army and Navy veteran and a Boston firefighter praised for bravery at a deadly North End fire. But today, prosecutors say he is at the center of one of the most alarming scandals to hit the Boston Fire Department in years.

Court filings show Thompson faces more than 40 charges, including illegal possession of assault rifles and handguns, possession of methamphetamine pills, and defying a restraining order that required him to surrender his weapons.

A judge has ordered him held without bail, describing him as a clear danger to the public.

The leaked photos

Body armor bombshell

A Boston Fire insider told Mass Daily News that among the seized gear was department-issued “active shooter” armor that had been reported missing from Thompson’s fire truck earlier this year.

“There was never any police investigation into the missing armor as far as anyone knows,” the insider said. “Meanwhile a truly unstable and unfit fire officer was stockpiling it at home.”

The same insider added that Thompson had recently been suspended after refusing to respond to an emergency call with his company, with the fire chief later finding him in the kitchen while his crew answered an accident.

Wu’s fire department under fire

The revelations land as Mayor Michelle Wu faces mounting headaches in her administration — from public safety crises to corruption scandals. While there’s no suggestion she had direct knowledge of Thompson’s alleged underground range or arsenal, the scandal still unfolds squarely under her watch.

For an administration already dogged by controversies, the sight of a veteran firefighter accused of stockpiling weapons, drugs, and missing department armor in a basement “gun cave” only adds to the pressure.

Thompson remains suspended from duty as the Boston Fire Department scrambles to contain the fallout.

The bottom line

The leaked images — published here for the first time — put shocking visuals to what court papers only hinted at: a firefighter, celebrated as a hero, now accused of stockpiling guns, drugs, and body armor in a hidden basement bunker.

Mass Daily News will continue to follow this story as it develops.

Editor’s note: The photos published in this article were obtained by Mass Daily News from a confidential source. They are presented here as part of our reporting on a matter of significant public interest.