A grenade is missing from the scene of an explosion at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility that killed three members of its arson and explosives unit, authorities said Friday.
At the time of the July 18 blast, the veteran deputies were working on two “military-style” grenades that had been taken into custody by authorities. One of the grenades detonated, and the other is unaccounted for, Sheriff Robert Luna said, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The agency is investigating the explosion and is expected to publish a final report in 45 days.
Luna said authorities X-rayed special enforcement bureau vehicles, searched all around the blast area and examined office spaces and even the gym and haven’t found it.
“You get the drift. We have looked at everything out there that we possibly could,” he said, adding that no one from the public has had access to the area.
The day before the explosion, members of the sheriff’s department’s arson and explosives unit arrived at an apartment in Santa Monica to assist local police after a resident said they found what appeared to be two hand grenades in a tenant’s storage unit in the underground parking garage, Luna said. The detectives X-rayed the devices and believed they were “inert,” or inactive.
The devices were then taken to be “destroyed and rendered safe” at the Biscailuz Training Facility, he said.
It was not known whether the grenades had any connection to the military.
Luna said that since the explosion, he has called for an independent review of the policies and practices of the arson and explosives team and has already changed how they handle these types of situations.
“All future explosive devices, inert or not, will be treated as if they are all live and will be disposed of accordingly,” he said.
The deaths early Friday marked the department’s worst loss of life in a single incident since 1857, when four officers were killed by gunfire, Luna said.
The department identified the deputies who died as Detective Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Detective Victor Lemus and Detective William Osborn. They served 19, 22 and 33 years in the department respectively, Luna said.
“We’re going to turn this upside down,” he said. “We’re going to look at everything we can. Why? Because we need to know what happened. We owe it to the families. And for God’s sake, I never want this to happen again.”
