Three people have been killed after a “horrific incident” at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility.
Detective Joshua Kelley-Eklund, detective Victor Lemus, and detective William Osborn were killed after an explosion at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in east LA on Friday.
The explosion was reported around 7.30am local time (3.30pm UK time).
Aerial footage from local channel KABC-TV suggests the blast happened in a car park filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks.
(L-R) William Osborn, Joshua Kelley-Eklund and Victor Lemus. Pic: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
The LA County Sheriff’s Department described all three detectives as “brave men [who] served with honour, courage and unwavering commitment to protecting and serving our community”.
In a Facebook post, it said: “Their tragic loss is deeply felt across our department and the entire Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
The detectives worked as arson and explosive investigators. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that they had served between 19, 22 and 33 years respectively in the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
The training centre in east LA. Pic: NBC Los Angeles
He said the incident marked the department’s worst loss of life in a single incident since 1857, when four officers were killed by gunfire.
Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida said officials were exploring whether there may be a connection to the discovery of “devices” at an apartment complex in Santa Monica a day before the explosion.
She did not specify what sort of devices they were but said residents had been evacuated and police were obtaining a warrant to search the complex for “potential explosive material”.
Attorney general Pam Bondi wrote on X that the explosion “appears to be a horrific incident” before asking people to pray for the families of the victims.
Media and law enforcement officials near the explosion site. Pic: AP
California congressman Jimmy Sanchez also sent his “condolences to the families and everyone impacted by this loss”.
Later, the attorney general said in a follow-up post that agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are “on the ground to support”.
Arson investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department and members of the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad were also assisting the investigation at the training facility, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said in a post on X.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said he has been briefed on the incident.
“The governor’s office of emergency services is in contact with the sheriff’s department and closely monitoring the situation, and has offered full state assistance,” it added.
