Three police officers dead after explosion at Los Angeles training facility

The FBI and bomb squad are investigating after at least three police officers died following an explosion at a Los Angeles training facility.

Three police officers have died following an explosion at a police training facility in Los Angeles.

At about 7.30am on Friday (12.30am, Saturday, AEST) a blast was reported at a Los Angeles Sheriffs Department base in the suburb of Monterey Park, east of LA’s CBD.

One person has been injured according to reports in what could be a tragic accident.

The location of the explosion was the Biscailuz Centre Academy Training. LA’s ABC7 News said the facility housed the sheriffs’ department’s bomb squad unit.

Police and emergency vehicles are in place at the scene of a blast at the Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East Los Angeles on Friday, July 18, 2025. Picture: KABC-TV/AP

Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass said it was an “horrific incident” and the “thoughts of all Angelenos are with all those impacted by this blast”.

Arson investigators as well as the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad are on the scene, she said.

Attorney-General Pam Bondi said there was “on the ground to support” from the FBI as well as the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more,” she said.

“Please pray for the families of the sheriff’s deputies killed.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said he had been briefed on “the reported explosion” and was “closely monitoring the situation”.

Sheriffs deputies monitor a street closure near the site of the explosion. Picture: AP Photo/Etienne Laurent

Two hazmat vehicles are seen at the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department's Biscailuz Training Centre. Picture: Patrick T Fallon/AFP

An investigation is underway and police have not confirmed the reasons behind the incident.

However, The Los Angeles Times reported bomb squad deputies had been moving an unexploded ordnance from a recent recovery operation when it exploded.

The bomb squad regularly picks up potentially explosive material for disposal. But it is a dangerous operation as it’s not known how old or stable the materials are.

The explosion shattered windows in buildings and in cars parked close to the incident.

“The loss is just staggering,” former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told ABC7.

“It’s gonna take a while to figure out how this happened, why this happened, could it have been prevented.”

The LA Times said the Sheriffs Department had a “history of dangerous incidents occurring at its training facilities”.

This has included four fires at its shooting ranges in the last 12 years. In 2023, it stated, two deputies were severely burned in a fire at a jail managed by the department.

With AFP

Originally published as Three police officers dead after explosion at Los Angeles training facility