IRVINE, California — An explosion during an indoor training session on Wednesday sent 16 members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team in Southern California to the hospital, with one person requiring surgery for a leg injury, the department said.
Two others had superficial wounds, while the remaining thirteen suffered from dizziness and tinnitus.
The explosion occurred shortly before 1 p.m. at the Irvine facility, sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Gonzalez. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, but it happened during a training session with the sheriff’s bomb squad, he said.
The most serious injury was a non-life-threatening leg wound that required surgery, Gonzalez said. The two other injured officers do not require surgery, he said.
No FBI personnel were injured, agency spokesperson Laura Emiller said.
The facility south of Los Angeles hosts firearms training and qualification tests for the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, Emiller said.
The FBI will lead the investigation, Gonzalez said.