The LA Sheriff is investigating whether photos of the 3 deputies killed in the bombings were improperly shared
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has launched an internal investigation into whether graphic crime scene footage of the bombing that killed three was improperly shared, officials said. Another senior commander was relieved of duty the day the investigation began.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating whether crime scene footage of the bombing that killed three detectives was improperly shared internally, officials told The Times.
The sheriff’s senior officer, who has been with the department for nearly 40 years, is currently on leave due to an internal investigation, according to a department spokesperson.
The department confirmed it had been conducting an internal criminal investigation for the past six months after being questioned by The Times about allegations of staff sharing the gruesome images. The current investigation follows a previous scandal in which sheriff’s officials passed over graphic images of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash six years ago, and led to a multi-million dollar settlement for the Bryant family.
Detectives Victor Lemus, Joshua Kelley-Eklund and William Osborn all died on July 18, 2025, after one of two bombs found in a Santa Monica apartment was detonated at the Biscailuz Center Training Academy in East LA.
A deadly explosion in a Sheriff’s parking lot sent shockwaves through law enforcement agencies across the country, and sparked numerous criminal investigations. It also led to the department filing a lawsuit by the widow of one detective.
After this incident, Sheriff Robert Luna called on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI to help investigate the cause of the explosion, and help advise the department on what policies should be revised to avoid another tragedy.
LA County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Thomas Giandomenico looks on as Sheriff Robert G. Luna tells reporters about the deadly bombing at the Biscailuz Center Training Academy on July 18, 2025.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
An investigation into the possible sharing of crime scene footage was launched on Sept. 11 of last year — the same day Sheriff’s Cmdr. Thomas Giandomenico has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, according to a department spokesperson.
Sheriff’s officials declined to release further details on the matter.
A 38-year veteran of the department, Giandomenico was recently assigned to the Special Operations Unit.
Calls and messages to Giandomenico were not returned for this story.
An internal criminal investigation is one of many ongoing processes into the deadly bombing, including a homicide investigation into the deaths of three deputies, and a criminal investigation into the whereabouts of the second missing bomb. The ATF is currently investigating the cause of the explosion.
Alleged crime scene photos are reminiscent of the scandal the department faced six years ago, when first responders were found to have taken and shared their own photos of the helicopter crash that killed Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter in 2020.
Two years after allegations of helicopter crash footage surfaced, a judge has awarded widow Vanessa Bryant $31 million after she sued the county for violating her right to privacy and emotional distress.
The incident also prompted California lawmakers to enact a law — known as the Kobe Bryant Act — that makes it a misdemeanor for a first responder to take or share unauthorized photos of a deceased person for any reason other than legitimate business.
Violations are punishable by a fine of $1,000 per offense. The law also allows law enforcement to obtain search warrants to seize first responders’ smart phones and computers as evidence.
Before he was elected sheriff, Luna criticized the actions of first responders who took pictures and shared them.
A procession leaves the Biscailuz Training Center after three sheriff’s deputies were killed in a July 2025 bombing.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
“I feel bad for all the families, including Vanessa [Kobe Bryant’s widow] and you feel for them,” Luna told Fox 11 news at the time. It’s unacceptable.”
“The first word that comes to mind is accountability,” Luna said. “This is not acceptable under any circumstances.”
Luna, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the current internal investigation.
Since the bombing, the widow of one of the three slain detectives has filed a lawsuit against the county, saying her late husband, Det. Victor Lemus, did not have the proper training as a bomb disposal expert and that a series of decisions by his colleagues led to the tragic explosion.
The lawsuit filed by Nancy Lemus also revealed that the two other detectives retrieved the two bombs the day before the explosion and used an old X-ray machine from their department-issued work truck, not the department’s car that detonated the bomb.
The detectives allegedly drove two bombs along busy streets, took them home, and left them in their house or car overnight before going to the training ground the next day.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said they are aware of the request. Officials said they had no information to confirm allegations that bombs were kept overnight in trucks or in their homes.
After the blast, ATF, FBI and sheriff’s officials conducted a thorough search of the 400-foot blast radius, and found only two of the bombs seized by detectives detonated. The location of the second bomb, officials said, is unknown.
