The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating whether graphic crime scene photos of a grenade blast that killed three detectives were improperly shared internally, officials told The Times.
Already, a high-ranking sheriff’s official with nearly 40 years in the department has been relieved of duty in connection with the internal investigation, according to a department spokesperson.
The department confirmed it been conducting an internal criminal investigation for the past six months after being confronted by The Times about allegations of employees sharing gruesome images. The current inquiry echoes a previous scandal that saw sheriff’s personnel passing around graphic images of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash scene six years ago, and resulted in a multi-million dollar verdict to the Bryant family.
Detectives Victor Lemus, Joshua Kelley-Eklund and William Osborn all perished on July 18, 2025, after one of two grenades found in a Santa Monica apartment complex detonated at the Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East L.A.
The deadly explosion in a Sheriff’s facility parking lot sent shockwaves through law enforcement agencies nationwide, and has triggered multiple criminal investigations. It has also resulted in a legal claim against the department by the widow of one detective.
In the aftermath of the incident, Sheriff Robert Luna called on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI to help investigate the cause of the blast, and help advise the department on what policies needed to be revised to prevent another tragedy.
The probe into the possible sharing of crime scene images was launched on Sept. 11 of last year — the same day Sheriff’s Cmdr. Thomas Giandomenico was relieved of duty pending an outcome of the investigation, according to a department spokesperson.
Sheriff’s officials have declined to release further details in the matter.
A 38-year veteran of the department, Giandomenico was most recently assigned to the Special Operations Division.
Calls and messages to Giandomenico were not returned for this story.
The internal criminal investigation is one of several ongoing probes into the deadly grenade blast, including a homicide investigation into the deaths of the three deputies, and a criminal investigation into the whereabouts of the second, missing grenade. The ATF is currently the lead investigative agency into the cause of the blast.
The allegations into the crime scene photos recall a scandal the department faced six years ago, when first responders were found to have taken and shared graphic personal photos of the helicopter crash in which Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter died in 2020.
Two years after allegations surfaced about the helicopter crash images, a jury awarded widow Vanessa Bryant $31 million in damagesafter she sued the county for violating her right to privacy and inflicting emotional distress.
The incident also prompted California legislators to enact a law — known as the Kobe Bryant Act — which makes it a misdemeanor for a first responder to take or share unauthorized photos of a deceased person for any other reason other than official law enforcement business.
A violation of the law is punishable by a fine of $1,000 per offense. The law also allows law enforcement to obtain search warrants to seize the smart phones and computers of first responders as evidence.
Before he was elected sheriff, Luna criticized the actions of the first responders who took pictures and shared them.
“I feel so bad for all the families, including Vanessa [Kobe Bryant’s widow] and you feel for them,” Luna told Fox 11 news at the time. “We as law enforcement cannot be seen in this fashion that we are taking photos for whatever you want to call it. It is just not acceptable.”
“The first word that comes to mind is accountability,” Luna said. “This isn’t acceptable under any circumstance.”
Luna, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the current internal investigation.
Since the grenade explosion, the widow of one of the three detectives killed has filed a claim against the county, alleging that her late husband, Det. Victor Lemus, lacked proper training as a bomb disposal technician and that a series of decisions by his colleagues led to the tragic blast.
The legal claim filed by Nancy Lemus also alleges that the other two detectives had retrieved the two grenades the day before the explosion and used an older X-ray machine from their department-issued work truck, not the department’s bomb vehicle.
The detectives allegedly drove with the two grenades on busy streets, took them home, and left them overnight in their home or their vehicle before driving to the training facility the next day.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s department said they are aware of the claim. Officials said they have no information to substantiate the claim that the grenades were kept overnight in their trucks or home.
After the explosion, the ATF, FBI and sheriff officials conducted an extensive search of the 400-foot blast radius, and determined only one of two grenades that had been seized by the detectives had detonated. The second grenade, officials said, remains unaccounted for.
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