(L.A.) William Osborn, 58, Died in a Grenade Blast

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Case Number: 2025-11559

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 58-year-old White/Caucasian male that occurred at a police department.

The coroner’s office has identified the man as William Osborn.

Manner of Death: Accident

Cause of Death: Multiple Blast Injuries

RIP WILLIAM OSBORN ( July 18, 2025)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Friday.

The decedent was one of three sheriff’s detectives who died in an explosion that happened at a facility in East L.A. at around 7:30 a.m.

Incident Location: Biscailuz Center

Incident Address:
1060 North Eastern Street, Los Angeles, CA 90063

Biscailuz Center has many different uses. One is as a training facility. The other is as headquarters for the Bomb Squad and Special Enforcement Bureau (SWAT).

“They got blown to pieces by old grenades found in Santa Monica.”

Aerial footage from Sky5 showed an LASD vehicle with a shattered rear windshield and a nearby backpack on the parking lot asphalt near what appears to be the department’s explosives trucks. Additionally, a tarp over the bomb trucks was visibly damaged, presumably in the explosion.

LASD bomb explosion

Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) provides a variety of specialized tactical, rescue, and counter-terrorist support services throughout the County and is comprised of five details. The five details work together to form the SEB’s special weapons teams to safely resolve high-risk situations. Each individual detail has a specialty within the SEB special weapons teams. The SEB individual detail with responsibilities are as follows:

  • Special Enforcement Detail
  • Emergency Services Detail (ESD)
  • Canine Services Detail
  • Arson/Explosives Detail
  • Hazardous Materials Detail (HazMat)

The grenades handled by the deputies —- thought to be inert — were indeed live or activated during handling.

Grenades — especially aged or poorly marked ones — can detonate with touch or minimal disturbance if internal safeties have failed.

Typically, only one or two specialists handle a device directly, while others keep a safe distance to minimize casualties if something goes wrong.

Senior detectives with decades of experience should know not to congregate around a single cache of explosives, especially if there’s even a small chance of one being live.

But of course these are Los Angeles level of professionals.

It defies ordinary procedure for three experienced detectives to all directly be in close vicinity of potential explosives, unless absolutely sure they’re safe. The most plausible scenario is collective mistaken confidence that the grenades were inert. If all believed the items posed zero risk, normal distancing and safety procedures could have lapsed.