At least 3 deputies killed in explosion at L.A. County sheriff’s training facility

At least three deputies were killed and another person was injured Friday in an explosion at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Center, according to law enforcement sources.

The blast occurred just before 7:30 a.m. at the center on Eastern Avenue, which is home to the sheriff’s special enforcement bureau and the arson explosive detail, including the bomb squad.

The injured individual was taken to a hospital after the explosion, authorities said. Their condition was not clear.

Authorities were investigating and the cause of the blast was not immediately clear. But preliminary information indicates deputies were moving an unexploded ordinance recently recovered from a bomb call out when the blast occurred, according to two law enforcement sources.

The bomb squad typically picks up potential explosives across the region daily, but it’s a situation that’s always fraught with danger because it’s hard to assess the stability of materials and their age, the sources told The Times.

Read more: Los Angeles Times