Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna provided a public update on the investigation into the explosion that resulted in the deaths of three deputies just over a week ago during a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Deputies Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus, and William Osborn, all serving within the LASD’s Arson/Explosives Detail, lost their lives on July 18 while handling a grenade obtained the previous evening from a storage unit in Santa Monica. Investigators, along with a search warrant, revealed that two grenades were recovered that night, and the detectives initially assessed them to be non-lethal. They transported the grenades to the LASD’s Biscailuz Center Training Academy to ensure they were “destroyed and rendered safe,” according to Sheriff Luna.
The second grenade recovered by deputies is “unaccounted for” at this point.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Luna said:
“We have received an update today on the post-blast investigation conducted by the ATF. Based on their specialized analysis, in addition to the physical evidence and remnants recovered from the blast site, they have concluded that one of the two grenades detonated on Friday. The whereabouts of the second grenade remain unknown,” Luna reported.
How does that happen?
Kenny Cooper, the special agent in charge of the ATF’s Los Angeles Field Division, also spoke and took questions at the presser. He told reporters that explosives specialists and techs from around the country have been brought in to participate in the investigation, that the team had searched/surveyed an area 400 feet from where the blast occurred to both attempt to determine what happened that morning and to find the second grenade. They’ve determined the type of military grenade that was used and are researching its origin and movements.
