The probe traces back to Thursday, when residents of an apartment complex on the 800 block of Bay Street in Santa Monica were evacuated
An investigation is underway into a deadly explosion that killed three Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, with authorities focusing on a Santa Monica condo complex as a potential source.
The blast occurred Friday morning at the Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East Los Angeles, claiming the lives of Detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus, and William Osborn, who together had 74 years of service.
The probe traces back to Thursday, when residents of an apartment complex on the 800 block of Bay Street in Santa Monica were evacuated after a homeowners association email warned of a possible explosive device in the garage, The New York Times noted.
The deputies, part of the elite Arson Explosives Detail, responded, seizing what appeared to be explosive devices, including two inert hand grenades after a tenant found them in a storage unit. A search Friday night yielded no significant materials.
It remains unclear if these devices caused the explosion, though homicide detectives are exploring the link, Los Angeles Times said.
Sheriff Robert Luna called the unit “fantastic experts” handling 1,100 calls yearly, while Governor Newsom and Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis honored the fallen, ordering flags at half-staff. Residents described a tense evacuation, as federal agents from the FBI and ATF assisted.
