At least three deputies were killed and another person was injured Friday in an explosion at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Center, according to law enforcement sources.
The blast occurred just before 7:30 a.m. at the center on Eastern Avenue, which is home to the sheriff’s special enforcement bureau and the arson explosive detail, including the bomb squad.
Authorities were investigating, but the cause of the blast was not immediately clear. The injured individual was taken to a hospital after the explosion. Their condition was not clear.
Sources told The Times that a bomb squad was moving an explosive ordinance at the facility when the blast occurred. LAPD’s bomb squad responded to the scene to help render any other potential explosives safe and the immediate area has been evacuated. The FBI is also responding to the scene along with its bomb technicians, said Laura Eimiller, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles office.
Employees told The Times they heard a massive boom shortly before 7:30 a.m. coming from the parking lot where the sheriff’s bomb squad keeps its vehicles. They heard glass shattering and screaming.
Officials covered the blast area with a massive tarp. About 25 yards away from the facility, the windows of an SUV cruiser were blown out by the explosion.
A sheriff’s helicopter circled over the area as multiple emergency vehicles drove into the facility. Civilian vehicles were being directed out of the parking lot.
The sheriff’s department has a history of dangerous incidents occurring at its training facilities with at least four fires at its mobile shooting ranges — tractor-trailers where deputies undergo firearm training — in the last 12 years.
In 2023, two deputies suffered third-degree burns when a fire broke out in a trailer at the men’s jail at Pitchess Detention Center.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement on X that he had been briefed on the explosion. The California Office of Emergency Services is “closely monitoring the situation and has offered full state assistance.”
Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi called the situation a “horrific incident” in a statement Friday.
“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more,” she said. “Please pray for the families of the sheriff’s deputies killed.
Staff writer Connor Sheets contributed to this report.
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