3 deputies killed thought grenades were inert before cutting one in half

[Anders]

I wonder what type of grenade it was?

 

[kiwieod]

unfortunatley they have made some horrible mistakes which cost them their lives.
mis identified item,
cutting it open in the parking lot?with what? a grinder/hacksaw?
all 3 of them had to be standing right next to the guy doing the cutting to have been killed
why were regular deputies doing EOD work?the must have been trained in this type of work

 

[BMG50]

Obviously not checked before cutting. I thought these days they would identify or if not sure, in doubt just blow it in a safe position. Not hack or bash it etc. Seems these poor guys needed more training.

 

[reccetrooper]

From another report posted on youtube.
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 source then reported that the deputies initially rendered the explosives, military-style grenades, inert before they cut one open the next day as part of a training exercise.KTLA 5's Eric Spillman reports. (July 21, 2025)

 

[reccetrooper]

It sounds from this report that there may have been several grenades found, with some identified as inert after being X-rayed, and others by association were just assumed to be inert.

Investigation into blast that killed 3 deputies expands to second location in Marina del Rey

Investigators are trying to determine the origin of grenades in a Santa Monica storage area that were transported to East L.A., where the blast occurred Friday.

www.latimes.com

 

[US-Subs]

unfortunatley they have made some horrible mistakes which cost them their lives.
mis identified item,
cutting it open in the parking lot?with what? a grinder/hacksaw?
all 3 of them had to be standing right next to the guy doing the cutting to have been killed
why were regular deputies doing EOD work?the must have been trained in this type of work

I spoke with several folks this morning in different agencies, no information is being released during the investigation, so no one knows the full story. These were bomb techs, and in the US they have discretion whether they wish to request military assistance or not. In regard to some of the comments made above, in my opinion the key and perhaps only mistake was in identification. Once you have identified an item as inert, who cares where you manipulate it, who manipulates it, what tools they use, how many people are present, etc. As many are aware, identification is key to everything. You can second guess from your armchair many different aspects, but once the decision is made, the item is either inert, hazardous, or suspect and considered as hazardous. Your don't go from that point and treat an item as half hazardous, neither do you treat it as half inert. It should be one or the other. I suspect that much of the focus of the investigation will be on who made the identification, and based on what information.