two grenades detonated<\/a> July 18, \u201cand one of the grenades is unaccounted for at this time,\u201d Sheriff Robert Luna said. <\/p>\n\u201cWe conducted a thorough search to locate the second device, but we haven\u2019t found it yet,\u201d he said during a briefing. <\/p>\n
The ATF, which is investigating the blast, will also assume \u201cfull control into investigating the whereabouts of this other device,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the ATF\u2019s Los Angeles Field Division, said Friday that a nationwide team of detection dogs, explosives specialists and technicians was brought in to survey an area ranging more than 400 feet from the blast origin in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the missing explosive. <\/p>\n
Investigators were able to determine the type of military grenade that was used, but were still looking into the origin of the devices. <\/p>\n
The agency will also investigate the origin of the grenade, as well as its movements, he said. <\/p>\n
According to law enforcement sources, investigators learned one of the grenades was missing when they could only find one of the \u201cspoons\u201d \u2014 suggesting just one grenade had exploded at the scene.<\/p>\n
The bomb squad retrieved the two hand grenades left behind \u2014 apparently by a previous tenant \u2014 in an underground parking garage storage unit at the complex in the 800 block of Bay Street on the night of July 17 and took them to the Biscailuz Center Training Academy to be \u201cdestroyed and rendered safe,\u201d Luna said.<\/p>\n
The next day, one of the grenades exploded as technicians were handling them in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
The blast was the single deadliest incident for the department in more than 150 years, killing three department veterans: Dets. Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn.<\/p>\n
Bomb squad technicians had X-rayed the explosives and told city police they believed the devices were inert, according to a search warrant obtained by The Times this week.<\/p>\n
Luna said there was no evidence that the detectives had attempted to cut into a grenade prior to the explosion, a theory that had been put forward in recent days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m being very cautious about what I say,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Officials searched a boat docked in Marina del Rey on Monday and storage lockers Tuesday and Wednesday that law enforcement sources told The Times are tied to a person who previously served in the U.S. military.<\/p>\n
Investigators are still casting a wide net for potential suspects, Luna said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery avenue is being looked at, every person, every address,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we have more information, we\u2019ll be putting it out … I am not ready to discuss here and now any names of any individuals that may be people of interest, or anything of that nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ATF\u2019s findings are preliminary, but the Sheriff\u2019s Department expects the final analysis may be ready in about 45 days, Luna said. <\/p>\n
Luna added that he has called for an independent review of the department\u2019s standards when it comes to disposing of explosive devices, and plans to consult the ATF on future policy and practice decisions.<\/p>\n
He has also ordered psychological visits for all involved personnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to turn this upside down, we\u2019re gonna look at everything we can,\u201d Luna said. \u201cWe need to know what happened. We owe it to the families \u2026 I never want this to happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luna and Cooper both implored residents to report any explosive devices that they may encounter to authorities as the investigation continues, but said there is no direct danger to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used drones, we used bucket trucks to look into trees, we searched well beyond and we didn\u2019t do it once,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cIf you find anything that looks like a grenade or an explosive device or is just an unknown object, please contact law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone with information can contact the Sheriff\u2019s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500 or the ATF tip hotline (888) 283-8477.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the two hand grenades found in a Santa Monica townhome complex ahead of the deadly blast…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":93002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[2106,13257,10009,1582,276,57923,61471,5991,61473,2961,61472,224,5337,9548,61474,17815,5618,61475,15613,52812],"class_list":{"0":"post-93001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-alcohol","9":"tag-authority","10":"tag-blast","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-complex","14":"tag-grenade","15":"tag-july","16":"tag-l-a-deputy","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-law-enforcement-source","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-monday","22":"tag-storage-locker","23":"tag-tobacco","24":"tag-tuesday","25":"tag-victor-lemus","26":"tag-wednesday","27":"tag-william-osborn"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114917281929353475","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}