By SDCN Staff
Sacramento, CA–Governor Gavin Newsom and Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis honored three fallen Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who were killed Friday in an explosion at Biscailuz Training Facility in the unincorporated area of City Terrace in East Los Angeles.
In honor of Detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus, and William Osborn, flags at the State Capitol in Sacramento and Capitol Annex Swing Space will be flown at half-staff.
Governor Newsom and Acting Governor Kounalakis issued a joint statement honoring the fallen detectives:
“Detectives Kelley-Eklund, Lemus, and Osborn served the Los Angeles community with unwavering courage and honor. Our hearts are with their families and the entire Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
On July 18, shortly after 7:30 a.m., three veteran members assigned to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Arson Explosives Detail were killed in an explosion at Biscailuz Training Facility in the unincorporated area of City Terrace in East Los Angeles. This tragedy marks the agency’s largest loss of life in a single incident since 1857.
Detective Kelley-Eklund joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in March 2006. He was later assigned to the Pitchess Detention Center North and the North County Correctional Facility, then transferred to the Lennox Sheriff Station in 2010, where he became a Field Training Officer at the South Los Angeles Station. In 2016, he was assigned to the LA Impact Team in the Narcotics Bureau. In 2022, he became an Arson and Explosive Investigator with the Special Enforcement Bureau.
Detective Kelley-Eklund is survived by his wife, Jessica Eklund, and their seven children.
Detective Victor Lemus joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on July 1, 2003, as a Security Assistant. He completed the Deputy Sheriff Academy in 2003, before being assigned to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
Following that, he transferred to Century Station, where he worked as a Senior Training Officer and Detective. He transferred to the Special Enforcement Bureau in 2017, where he was assigned as a K-9 Handler before becoming an Arson and Explosive Investigator last year.
Detective Lemus is survived by his wife, Sheriff’s Department Detective Nancy Lemus, three daughters, and his siblings. His three sisters are also employed by the Department, in addition to his brother-in-law.
Detective William Osborn graduated from the Deputy Sheriff Academy in February 1992 before being assigned to Men’s Central Jail. He then transferred to Pico Rivera Station in 1998 as a Patrol Deputy. He moved to Industry Station in 2001 and was promoted to the rank of Detective. After working as a detective for over a decade, he transferred to the Training Bureau as an instructor for the Emergency Vehicle Operations Center in 2016. Detective Osborn later joined the Special Enforcement Bureau as an Arson and Explosive Investigator in 2019.
He is survived by his wife, Detective Shannon Rincon, four sons, and two daughters.
