Officials investigating the fatal explosion at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility are considering links to several explosives collected in Santa Monica.
Three deputies were killed in an explosives at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Viscale Center Training Academy at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Viscale Center Training Academy.
The cause of the explosion has not been determined. However, the probe brought investigators to an apartment in the 800 block of Bay Street in Santa Monica in connection with the explosion, according to department spokesman Nicole Nishida. Deputies for the three people killed in the explosion responded to an appeal Thursday to support the Santa Monica Police Department at the complex.
A hand-held bullet was recovered at an apartment in Santa Monica on Thursday, a city police officer told The Times. Sources not authorized to speak publicly told The Times that investigators were trying to determine whether the explosives were what caused the explosives.
Michael Kelman, who lives in the building, said he called police after a fellow tenant called police on Thursday and discovered a bag of hand-rena bullets hidden in her storage unit.
She has lived in the building for several years and believes the bags were left with the former residents, he said. Authorities returned to her squad on Friday and washed the apartment in search of the remaining explosives.
The Santa Monica Police Station evacuated residents from the Bay Street apartment building Friday afternoon, with authorities continuing to search for more additional explosives, Nishida said. The FBI and Los Angeles Police Department bomb troops are helping to investigate. The Bureau of Alcohol, cigarettes, firearms and explosives are expected to lead federal investigations into the causes of the explosion.
Nancy, who lives on Bay Street and chose not to provide her last name for privacy reasons, said officers knocked on the door late Friday afternoon to let her know that there was a “active investigation” and that she had to evacuate. Nancy asks the officer if her nanny could move the car in front of her house. “No one is allowed,” the officer told her.
On Friday morning, employees heard about a massive boom coming from the parking lot around 7:30am, and said sheriff’s bomb squads were keeping the vehicle. They heard the glass smashed and screamed.
Rich Pippin, president of ASSN. For the Los Angeles deputy sheriff, he called it “the worst day in the history of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
“You don’t wake up in the morning expecting this kind of news. Never and sadly, as often as we deal with this, it won’t be easy,” he said. “It never makes it easier. It hurts.”
The deputy was identified as dets on Friday evening. Joshua Kelly Ecklund, Victor Rems and William Osborne. Authorities said they had served for 19, 22 and 33 years, respectively.
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