IRVINE, Calif. – An explosion at an FBI training facility in Southern California on Wednesday injured 16 SWAT team members with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, authorities said.
On Wednesday at approximately 12:50 p.m., members of OCSD’s SWAT team and Hazardous Device squad were conducting their annual joint training at the Jerry Crowe Regional Training Facility on Magazine Road in Irvine when an explosion occurred inside a building, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.
Among the injured, 15 were transported by ambulance to the hospital; one person was able to self-transport.
The most severe wound was a leg injury that will require surgery. Another person sustained an injury to his back and another to the leg, but will not require surgery, sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Gonzalez said.
Thirteen team members complained of dizziness and ringing in their ears, and each person was treated and released from the hospital, OCSD said.
“We do have two members of our SWAT Team who are cross-trained as paramedics and they were able to provide assistance immediately,” authorities said, according to KTLA.
The facility is operated by the FBI, but no members of the federal agency were participating in the training or injured, Gonzalez confirmed.
The events leading up to the explosion were unclear. The incident is under investigation by the FBI and OCSD.
