Three Los Angeles law enforcement officers were killed after an explosion at a local training facility, in what officials say appears to be an accident. The three victims of the blast were deputies at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s arson and explosives unit, which handles over 1,000 calls a year, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida told the Associated Press.
Authorities said that one else was reported hurt and the bomb squad has declared the scene of the tragedy safe and secure.
The incident occurred on July 18, at around 7 a.m. Pacific at the Biscailuz Training Facility, in what is described as the police department’s worst loss of life in a single incident since 1857.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters that the deceased members of the arson and explosives unit were killed during one of their regular in-depth training exercises.
Multiple law enforcement sources involved in the ongoing investigation told ABC News that an explosive device mistakenly believed to have been inert had been brought back to the facility from a routine bomb squad training simulation when it exploded.
Luna called the accidental blast an isolated incident and said that there was no threat to the community.
“They have years of training,” said Luna, adding, "These members, usually the average calls that they go to and dealing with some very dangerous situations or items, average about 1,100 per year. So these aren't people who don't do this very often. They are fantastic experts, and unfortunately, I lost three of them today."
The three deputies were long-serving law enforcement veterans who each served 19, 22, and 33 years, respectively, in the unit.
Luna said he spoke with two of the three victims' families and that "as you can imagine, those were extremely challenging conversations."
The sheriff admitted that he could not release the deputies’ names at the time because he had yet to speak to one of the families.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn released a statement calling the incident "an extraordinarily painful day for our Sheriff’s Department and for L.A. County."
"My prayers are with the families of the deputies and their colleagues in law enforcement who are reeling from this tragedy," Hahn added.
"I am offering my full support to our Sheriff Robert Luna and his department as they not only work to support our deputies but to investigate what went so wrong. We need to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure that it never happens again," she said.
It is still unknown what caused the accidental blast or what the deputies were doing at the time, and the investigation is ongoing.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote on X that federal and local agencies, including the FBI, the ATF, and arson investigators Los Angeles Fire Department and personnel from the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad, were assisting in the investigation.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said he had been briefed on the incident and confirmed that the Office of Emergency Services is in contact with the LA Sheriff’s Department and is currently monitoring the situation. Newsom later posted on X that members of California's State Fire Marshal service were helping with the investigation at the request of the ATF.
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said on X that the FBI was also on the scene and that the explosion "appears to be a horrific incident.”
"Please pray for the entire Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department," pleaded Bondi.
Local aerial footage from KABC-TV over the training facility showed a parking lot filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks, with three covered bodies near a truck with a ramp attached to a side door. The footage also showed a nearby sheriff's patrol cruiser with its rearview mirror shattered by the blast.
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