The Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad technician who allowed too many fireworks to be placed inside a containment vessel before detonating the cache of explosives, resulting in a massive blast that tore apart a South L.A. neighborhood, has been suspended.
The officer, who has not been named, was the only member of LAPD’s bomb squad to receive a suspension so far, the department said.
Other members of the unit who were involved in the operation were reassigned to other units, according to NBC 4, which obtained documents showing the disciplinary actions taken against the suspended officer.
As of the afternoon of Thursday, April 20, LAPD had not confirmed to this news organization how many officers were reassigned away from the bomb squad. It’s also not clear whether the suspended officer will also be reassigned to another unit.
The discipline is the result of an internal investigation into the suspended officer’s actions when LAPD’s vaunted bomb squad attempted to safely dispose of tens of thousands of pounds of fireworks found at a home in the 700 block of East 27th Street in June 2021.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the technician estimated by sight the amount of explosives contained in the cache of fireworks. Then the bomb squad loaded the fireworks into what police call a “total containment vessel” — a huge drum designed to safely detonate explosives inside.
The officers activated the device while it was still sitting in the middle of 27th Street. When the vessel failed, the explosion from the detonation shattered homes up and down the street, caving in roofs and blowing doors off their frames.
At least 17 people were injured, including nine LAPD officers at the scene. Two men who lived on the street later died, though LAPD has not acknowledged whether the blast contributed to their deaths.
The ATF investigation found the technician picked up one of the explosives devices found at the home…
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