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At least 16 people were injured Wednesday night when police tried to detonate a huge, 5,000 pound cache of illegal fireworks seized in South Los Angeles. Police seized the fireworks earlier that day and attempted to detonate some of them in an armored container, but the force from the explosion destroyed the container.
Along with the injuries, the force of the blast also damaged several cars and structures in the immediate area.
Quite a crowd gathering here in South LA. @KPCC @LAist pic.twitter.com/gzPpz5BXpg
— Austin Cross (@AustinCross) July 1, 2021
"It pretty much felt like a small earthquake, like let's say like a 1.0, it was pretty loud, all the neighbors came out it was a big commotion," said Jorge Gonzalez, a resident of the area.
I don’t think it was supposed to happen like this! LAPD detonated those illegal fireworks on scene and the explosion seriously damaged the bomb squad truck took out several nearby cars! People inside a home may be injured as well 😰 @CBSLA @JeffVaughn @CBSLAsuzie pic.twitter.com/swUVlodoWi
— Desmond Shaw (@RoadSageLA) July 1, 2021
At a late-night news conference Wednesday, LAPD Chief Michel Moore says his department is investigating what happened to trigger the explosion.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old man is in police custody in connection with those fireworks. He was being held on $500,000 bail as of Thursday morning.
