What to Know
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn were killed in an explosion at a department training center.
- The bodies of the veteran members of the agency were transported from the medical examiner’s office east of downtown LA to a mortuary in Covina.
- The deadly blast occurred in a parking lot one week ago at the Biscailuz Regional Training Center.
- They had been assisting local police after the discovery a day earlier on July 17 of grenades at an apartment in Santa Monica.
Law enforcement officers, firefighters and others gathered Friday along the route of a procession in honor of three Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies killed in an explosion.
Detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn, members of the agency’s arson and explosives unit, died last week at a department training center. They had been assisting local police after the discovery July 17 of grenades at an apartment in Santa Monica.
The law enforcement veterans served a combined 74 years with the department.
Friday’s procession will transported the bodies of the deputies from the medical examiner’s office to a mortuary in Covina. A large U.S. flag was suspended between two fire engine ladders outside the medical examiner’s office, marking the start of the procession. Rows of sheriff’s department patrol SUV were lined up nearby the building.
The deputies flag-draped caskets were carried by members of the department to three hearses at the medical examiner’s office east of downtown Los Angeles before the journey on the 10 Freeway to Covina. Firefighters on fire engines saluted the procession as it passed under freeway overpasses.
Funeral services are pending.
The investigation into what led to the deadly blast included a search for evidence at storage units in Marina Del Rey. Members of several law enforcement agencies were at the property Tuesday in the 4200 block of Via Marina.
Using robots, authorities searched the property for hours. A drone and K9 team also were at the scene.
It was not immediately clear whether evidence related to the investigation was found at the storage center.
On Monday, law enforcement agents served a search warrant in the 13900 block of Marquesas Way in Marina del Rey, searching a boat docked in the marina.
The blast occurred in a parking lot one week ago at the Biscailuz Regional Training Center in the 1000 block of North Eastern Avenue, southwest of the interchange of the 10 and 710 freeways. It is suspected ordnance collected a day earlier from a Santa Monica apartment building storage bin exploded during transport.
The sheriff said the arson and explosives team undergoes in-depth training and responds to more than 1,000 calls a year.