Investigators executed a search warrant on a boat in Marina del Rey as they continue their probe into the deaths of three bomb technicians who were killed when ordnance collected in Santa Monica exploded at a sheriff’s training center on Friday.
It is not clear what, if anything, was found on the boat in the 13900 block of Marquesas Way. But investigators say they are following leads to determine the origin of the grenades that were discovered inside a Santa Monica apartment complex storage area last week and transported to East L.A., where the explosion occurred Friday morning.
The explosives, described by law enforcement sources as military-grade hand grenades and fuses, were taken from the complex in the 800 block of Bay Street on Thursday night and moved to the Biscailuz Center Training Academy, photographed and stored. Officials believed at least some of the grenades were inert and that the technicians had taken an X-ray or scan of some of the ordnance and cut into them before one detonated.
It’s not clear how those explosives ended up inside the garage storage unit in the first place, who left them there or what caused one to detonate as the technicians moved it. Those are just a few of the questions officials are trying to answer as they piece together exactly what led to the deaths of Dets. Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn.
While the investigation is being led by the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s homicide unit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also assisting. The federal agency deployed its national response team, a group of investigators who reconstruct scenes, identify the point of detonation of an explosive device and can help determine the cause of the blast.
Officials have stressed that the investigation is likely to take weeks or months.
“ATF is here to work alongside our local partners and share whatever resources we have to help determine the cause of this explosion,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Kenneth R. Cooper of the Los Angeles Field Division. “While the pain of this loss will always be felt, we hope our efforts provide the answers a tragedy like this demands.”
