Officials search for 'military-style' grenade after deadly explosion in California
- - Officials search for 'military-style' grenade after deadly explosion in California
Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAYJuly 26, 2025 at 5:59 PM
California law enforcement say they took custody of two grenades on July 17 after a resident called the police. One exploded and killed three detectives, and now the other one is missing.
“The fact is, right now, there's a second grenade that we're not 100 percent sure where it's at,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in an evening briefing on July 25.
Luna described the missing grenade as “military-style," one of two recovered after a resident in Santa Monica on July 17 reported the devices had been found inside a tenant storage unit in an apartment complex's underground garage.
Arson explosives detail detectives investigated, including with X-rays, and thought the grenades were "inert," officials said.
But when detectives took the grenades to the department's explosives detail facility, one grenade exploded, killing detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn the morning of July 18.
Officials believe the second grenade arrived to the facility, but they don't know where it is, Luna said. The sheriff’s department has closed public access to roads around the facility, located in East Los Angeles, as they search for the missing grenade.
Officials have searched vehicles, gyms, lockers, office spaces and surrounding areas of the facility, Luna said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives has taken over the investigation to find the grenade. Kenny Cooper, ATF's special agent in charge for the Los Angeles field division, said officials have “meticulously examined” a radius of 400 feet from the blast site over several days. Officials have also conducted interviews and served multiple search warrants, Cooper said.
If someone believes they have come across the grenade, officials say don’t touch it and contact 911 or local law enforcement.
Sheriff’s homicide detectives are still investigating the detectives’ deaths.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Military-style' grenade missing after deadly explosion: LA Sheriff
Source: “AOL General News”
