More information is coming in on the explosion in the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East L.A, that killed three Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies. The deputies have been identified as Detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus, and William Osborn. They were experienced officers with a combined 74 years of experience, 19, 22, and 33 years, respectively.
Saturday morning, it was revealed that the device that caused the explosion was a military-grade device, possibly a grenade or grenades. Los Angeles news station Fox 11 showed video of a fuse that was allegedly taken from the scene.
According to law enforcement, the deadly explosion may be linked to a Santa Monica apartment complex.
Officials say on Wednesday construction workers were installing EV chargers when they found grenades in a former tenant's personal storage unit. The bomb squad was then called in. LASD officials say the grenades found at the apartment, located at 821 Bay Street, were related to today's explosion. LASD homicide investigators were at the apartment Friday afternoon.
As of this writing, it's not clear what activity was going on at the apartment or what may have been found, but there are reports that a search warrant was issued and executed.
This is consistent with info I received from a law enforcement source this morning, which was that multiple "military-type" devices were recovered by LASD SEB Thurs night in Santa Monica, and it was one of those devices that detonated this morning https://t.co/eAwbhIbhKw
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) July 19, 2025
🚨BREAKING: Military Grade Grenade Fuses Taken From Santa Monica Apartment by LASD Bomb Squad Believed to Be Culprit of Today's Deadly Explosion that Killed 3 L.A. Sheriff Deputies
— LitCzar 🇺🇲 (@LitCzar) July 19, 2025
🫡😔👮♂️🇺🇸👮♂️🇺🇸👮♂️😔🫡 pic.twitter.com/G0RNat8HoW
These appear to be the M213 Pyrotechnic-Delay (P-DLY) and Striker-Release (SR) fuses, used in the standard American M67 fragmentation grenade, among other devices. There were no grenades pictured, but the fuses alone would not be expected to produce an explosion like the one that occurred here. In the photo, it appears that the fuse may be secured to a device, but it is not clear what the device is; a small amount of olive-drab paint is visible at the bottom of the fuse, which is consistent with the finish applied to a fragmentation grenade, although, again, it's not possible to clearly see what that device may or may not be.
In the Fox 11 story, national security expert Hal Kempfer offered some insights on what may have occurred.
National security expert Hal Kempfer, who has worked previously with the LASD, called the situation "a horrific thing to see."
"They are probably one of the best trained, most professional, special operations, law enforcement organizations in the country and the world," he said. "So for something like this to happen, they're gonna be looking at this very closely and trying to figure out what exactly occurred."
Regarding the cause, Kempfer said it seems the deputies were transporting explosive materials when the incident occurred.
"It just tells me that probably they were transporting or storing something and something went horribly wrong," he said. "Frankly, things do go wrong with demolitions. You take a lot of precautions and everything, but it's dangerous work, dangerous training, dangerous business, and sometimes accidents do occur."
As of this writing, there are reports that the personal storage unit where the devices were found belongs to either a military veteran or retiree, but there are no confirmed reports as yet.
This was the largest loss of life in a single incident for the LA County Sheriff's Department since 1857.
This story is still developing. We will update you as events warrant.
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