LA Sheriff confirms one grenade missing after detonation killed three deputies

Investigators have used X-rays and searched vehicles and lockers at the Biscailuz Training Facility, along with the blast site, and have not found the missing grenade.

By Misty Severi

Published: July 25, 2025 10:31pm

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna on Friday told reporters that one of the two military grenades taken from a Santa Monica storage unit is still missing, after the first detonated last week and killed three deputies.

The Los Angeles sheriff's department helped Santa Monica police after the grenades were found in a tenant storage unit in an underground parking garage on July 17, and explosive detectives believed the devices were "inert." However, one of them exploded the next day at the sheriff’s department's Biscailuz Training Facility.

Luna said the devices had been taken to the training facility to be destroyed, and law enforcement is confident that the second grenade was not lost in transit, NBC News reported.

Investigators have also used X-rays and searched vehicles and lockers at the training facility, along with the blast site, and have not found the missing grenade.

“We have looked at everything out there that we possibly could,” Luna said in a press briefing. “Right now there’s a second grenade, that we’re not 100% sure where it’s at."

Luna said the investigation into the initial explosion is still ongoing, but the three deputies have been identified as Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn. All three men were part of the Special Enforcement Bureau’s Arson Explosives Detail.

The sheriff said that he will also launch a thorough after-action review of the department policies and that changes are already being made to treat all devices, even ones believed to be inert, as live.

"We're going to turn this upside down. We're going to look at everything." Luna said. "We owe it to the families. And for God's sake, I never want this to happen again."

The sheriff's department has warned the public that if they see an object that appears to be a grenade or other explosive device, to call 911 and stay away from the area.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.