Shortly after 7:30 a.m., on Friday, July 18, 2025, an explosion occurred at the Los Angeles Co. Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Facility in East Los Angeles where, tragically, three Detectives lost their lives. The incident transpired in the parking lot of the Special Enforcement Bureau at the facility. The Detectives were part of LASD’s Arson Explosives Detail, and officials reported that it appeared work was being done to render a device safe before it exploded.

Detective Joshua Kelley-Eklund joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in March 2006 under Academy Class 348. He was later assigned to the Pitchess Detention Center North and North County Correctional Facility. Detective Kelley-Eklund later transferred to Lennox Sheriff Station in 2010 and became a Field Training Officer at South Los Angeles Station, mentoring several new deputies as trainees. He was known as an outstanding field training officer who was professional and articulate. Detective Kelley-Eklund later promoted to the rank of Detective at Narcotics Bureau in 2016 where he was assigned to the LA Impact Team investigating complex crimes, seizing large quantities of narcotics, and assisting in the arrests of murder suspects. In 2022 he became an Arson and Explosive Investigator with the Special Enforcement Bureau and received his bomb tech certifications as well as other training accolades. Detective Kelley-Eklund is survived by his loving wife, Jessica Eklund, and their seven children.

Also lost in the line of duty were Detectives Victor Lemus and William Osborn.

This incident represents the largest loss of life for the LASD since 1857.