The investigation into the deaths of three L.A. County deputies, all killed by an explosion of military-style grenades thought to be inert, has made its way from Santa Monica to Marina del Rey where law enforcements officials were spotted outside an apartment complex Monday.
The blast occurred last Friday morning at the Biscailuz Regional Training Center in East Los Angeles.
The three deputies, Detective Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Detective Victor Lemus and Detective William Osborn, were killed while moving “undetonated ordnance,” sources told KTLA on Friday. All three were assigned to the LASD Special Enforcement Bureau’s Arson Explosives Detail.
Preliminary reports suggest that the explosives may have been connected to an operation conducted July 17 – a day before the deadly explosions – in Santa Monica. Deputies, including the three who perished, were called to an apartment building on Bay Street to assist Santa Monica Police Department officers with an investigation into explosive devices found in a storage unit near the building.
A woman cleaning out the storage bin spotted the devices and called authorities. Neighbors told KTLA that they were likely left behind by a former tenant who moved out approximately five years ago.
Investigators with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and ATF agents seen outside a Marina del Rey apartment complex on July 21, 2025. (KTLA) 
From left: Detective Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Detective Victor Lemus and Detective William Osborn with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. 
Investigators with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and ATF agents seen outside a Marina del Rey apartment complex on July 21, 2025. (KTLA) 
The explosives that detonated and killed three L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies may have been found in a storage unit at an apartment complex in Santa Monica, a law enforcement source tells KTLA. 
The explosives that detonated and killed three L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies may have been found in a storage unit at an apartment complex in Santa Monica, a law enforcement source tells KTLA.
What authorities reportedly found in the unit were two grenades believed to be stolen from the U.S. military by a previously enlisted individual who may have taken them during their training.
The explosives were x-rayed at the Santa Monica scene and deemed inert and transported to the East L.A. training center.
The tragic July 18 explosions reportedly occurred when one of the grenades was being cut in half as part of a training exercise to examine what was inside.
Early Monday morning, more than a dozen police cars carrying homicide investigators with the sheriff’s department, along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were spotted outside the Villa Del Mar Apartments in the 13900 block of Marquesa Way searching a red Toyota Prius and, according to the Los Angeles Times, interviewing boat owners at a nearby marina that they also evacuated during their search.
It is unknown what, if anything, investigators found during the search of the vehicle. So far, police have not officially named a suspect, nor have any arrests have been made in the case.
