Bomb squad engineers responding to the Santa Monica Townhomes complex told city police they believe the device was inert after resident discovered that a hand-rena bullet had x-rayed an explosive and according to a new search warrant for the explosion that killed three Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives last week.
The bomb squad recovered two hand rena bullets left in the underground parking garage storage unit at Bay Street Complex on Thursday night. The next day, at least one of the hand-rena bullets exploded as technicians were handling them in the parking lot.
The explosion was the most fatal incident for the department for the first time in more than 150 years, killing a detective for a veteran in the department. Joshua Kelly Ecklund, Victor Rems and William Osborne.
Investigators from the Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide and Alcohol Department, cigarettes, firearms and explosives are trying to determine exactly how the explosion occurred and how the device ended within the storage unit. It is unclear whether authorities believed the hand rena bullets were inert when they were processed Friday.
A search warrant issued Friday and reviewed by the Times on Wednesday allowed investigators to search for storage units within the complex for agitators, accelerators, surveillance footage, explosives and other hazardous materials.
“At this point in the investigation, it is not known whether the detective has become safe as an arson and explosive detective responding to 821 Bay Street died in Santa Monica… Mezzano and Delia believe that searching for parking lots in the town complex is looking for parking lots for residents to live in. Sergeant. Anthony Delia wrote in affidavit in support of the search warrant.
Santa Monica Police Officer Kyle Nichols told investigators that sheriff’s arson detective believed the sheriff’s arson attack was inert when he responded to the scene, but thought it was “destroyed and safe.” A law enforcement source told the Times this week that the engineers cut at least one hand-rena bullet before the explosion.
Authorities said it was too early to determine whether explosives are being transported or handled according to departmental protocols, stressing that it could take weeks or months for the investigation to be completed.
Authorities searched the boat docked at Marina del Rey on Monday and searched storage lockers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Wednesday, authorities were seen operating storage cases for suitcases, bins and hardshells as they ran through the storage units behind the apartment building in the 4200 block of Marquesas Way in Marina del Rey.
Authorities have not disclosed what they found during the search for a vessel or storage unit, if any, what they found.
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