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A grenade connected to the explosion that killed 3 deputies remains missing, officials warn
A memorial for three L.A. County sheriff's deputies who were killed in an explosion at Biscailuz Center Training Academy.
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Juliana Yamada
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
)
Topline:
One of the two military-style grenades connected to an explosion that killed three deputies last week remains missing, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference Friday. Luna added that the investigation is ongoing and that the department has since changed its policies on handling explosives.
The policy change: Luna said the department will treat all explosives as active, and dispose of them as necessary, even if they are believed to be inactive.
Background: The explosion happened last Friday at the Biscailuz Training Center on North Eastern Avenue in east Los Angeles. Sheriff's officials identified the men killed as Joshua Kelley-Ecklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn, all detectives assigned to Special Enforcement Bureau’s Arson Explosives Detail.
Sheriff Luna said: “I've also called for an independent after-action review of the policies, practices and equipment, as it relates to our arson explosives detail. We're going to turn this upside down. Why? Because we need to know what happened. We owe it to the families, and for God's sake, I never want this to happen again.”
What do we know? The grenades came from a storage unit in Santa Monica and were initially thought to be inert, according to a preliminary update from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Luna said the investigation remains ongoing.
Go deeper… on what we know about the deputies killed.
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