Explosion at LA law enforcement training facility kills three people | Los Angeles
An explosion in a police training center in Los Angeles killed three people with the County Sheriff Department in the greatest loss of life of the agency since 1857, the sheriff announced on Friday morning.
The three deputies who were killed were detail members of the Department’s criminal fire explosives said Robert Luna, the Sheriff, at a press conference. The authorities were still working to inform the relatives of the deceased, he said, and the details on the circumstances of the explosion were limited.
“There is much more than we do not know that we know, but our intention is to look at this from the start and understand what is exactly that caused this tragic event,” said Luna.
Investigators do not believe that there is a threat to the community.
The incident took place shortly after 7:30 am Friday, when an explosion occurred at the department’s special application office, in the installation of fire details on the explosives in East Los Angeles. The three people killed worked for the agency, collectively, for 74 years, said Luna.
“The individuals who work on our criminal fire retailers, they have years of training,” said Luna, adding that they frequently deal with dangerous calls. “They are fantastic experts, and unfortunately, I lost three today.”
The Los Angeles Police Service Bomb team responded to the scene to make the devices safe, said sheriff, a task that has taken more than four hours. The FBI and the ATF were on the scene to help the investigation.
Luna said the deaths have marked the worst loss of life from the ministry in a single incident since 1857, when four officers were killed by shooting.
The American prosecutor general, Pam Bondi, told journalists that federal agents were at the scene of Friday explosion and worked to find out more. She said that her information came from the office of the American lawyer Bill Essayli, whose jurisdiction includes Los Angeles.
The Governor’s office of California, Gavin Newsom, said that he had been informed of the explosion. The Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Security, Kristi Noem, said that the agency worked with the police and local laws.
Aerial images of KABC-TV have shown that the explosion has occurred in a car park filled with sheriff patrol cars and cash trucks.
Hilda Solis, a supervisor of the County of Los Angeles, said in a statement that she was “deeply saddened by the tragic incident” and in contact with the sheriff as the investigation develops.
Jason Zabala, a deputy who is a member of the SWAT team of the Sheriff department, called the deceased deputies “the best of the best”.
“When you register for work, you know it will be a dangerous job. Over the years, you realize how dangerous it is,” he said.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed the reports
