Rep. George Whitesides, D-Acton, led the California congressional delegation in a moment of silence Monday for three deputies who died in an explosion while serving the Sheriff’s Department’s Arson and Explosives Detail.
Their deaths are believed to be connected to two grenades recovered from a Santa Monica home last week that may have caused a deadly explosion at their East L.A. Facility.
Department officials were careful Monday not to say yet whether the grenades caused the explosion that killed the detectives at that point in their investigation.
“Today, I rise with my colleagues in the California delegation to mourn the loss of three heroic sheriff’s deputies who were tragically killed last week while serving in the Arson Explosives Detail of the Special Enforcement Bureau — the largest loss of life in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 1857,” Whitesides wrote in a news release Monday.
The three detectives killed in the blast Friday were Joshua Kelley-Eklund, a Santa Clarita Valley resident, Victor Lemus and William Osborn.
Kelley-Eklund joined the department in 2006 and became an arson and explosive investigator three years ago. He also was known as an outstanding field training officer who was “professional and articulate,” according to Whitesides’ release. He is survived by his wife and seven children.
“Their loss is a sobering reminder of the risks these heroes take every single day,” he wrote. “Their families, colleagues and loved ones are grieving the unimaginable. Today, we stand with them in solidarity, in sorrow and in gratitude.”
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials served a search warrant Friday seeking answers in the explosion, starting with the L.A. home where the grenades were found the previous day.
The investigation
So far, the pair of homicide investigators assigned to the case have reported what they know: Three Arson and Explosives Detail detectives responded to 821 Bay St. in Santa Monica on Thursday to assist Santa Monica Police Department with two grenade explosives found inside a storage area in the underground parking garage of a townhome complex, according to sworn statements in a search warrant request filed the day after the explosion.
LASD homicide detectives interviewed the Santa Monica Police officers in their station’s break room hours after the deadly explosion Friday, according to court records.
Investigators learned that the police responded to a call for service at the West L.A. residence the previous day, after a female tenant “found an explosive device inside her storage area in the parking structure,” based on statements reported to the court.
The two Santa Monica police officers contacted the AED team, which “collected two hand grenades and they conducted an X-ray of the devices,” per their statements in court records.
“Officer Nichols told detectives the arson detectives believed the hand grenades were inert; however, they took the hand grenades to be destroyed and rendered safe,” according to the request to search the Santa Monica home.
The immediate concern after the blast, according to detectives in Friday’s search warrant, remained with the townhome where the grenades were found. Due to the deaths, LASD had no way of knowing whether there were more explosives and additional safety concerns for the public.
The detectives also were looking for evidence to indicate who controlled the premises, which also would tell them who may have been in possession of the illegal grenades and who might have placed the explosives where they were found, according to court records.
The Sheriff’s Department did not announce any arrests in connection with the deaths. A second search warrant was announced Monday, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release, which stated deputies searched the 13900 block of Marquesas Way in Marina Del Rey, which is about 4 miles south of where the grenades were found.
“Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Investigators are continuing to conduct their post-blast investigation and reconstruct the incident scene, to determine if the devices found on Thursday were in fact the cause of the explosion that occurred on Friday,” according to Monday’s release. “These investigations take time, and we are committed to conducting a thorough examination to accurately determine the cause.
“Investigators are following all leads and evidence to determine the origins of the devices located on Thursday.”