Today's Edition
LOS ANGELES (THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE)
Three sheriff’s deputies were killed in an explosion Friday morning at a law enforcement training centre in Los Angeles, local and federal officials said.
The deaths were the largest loss of life for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from a single episode since 1857, authorities said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the blast, which occurred at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Academy centre in East Los Angeles.
A state official familiar with the investigation called the explosion a tragic accident that appeared to have stemmed from the handling of on-site explosives.
There was no threat to the area, and the explosion was an isolated episode, said Sheriff Robert Luna. No one else was injured by the blast, he said.
The sheriff’s department identified the deputies as Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn. They were all assigned to the arson explosives unit, the department said in a statement.
