After allegedly tossing a rucksack filled with explosives into the Santa Maria, California, Superior Court on Wednesday morning, which caused an explosion that injured six people, a male suspect has been placed under arrest.
The explosion happened at 8:34 a.m. PDT after a guy hurled a rucksack inside the structure and was apprehended by security guards right away.
Six people were hurt in the explosion; they were transported to the Marian Regional Medical Center for treatment despite not having life-threatening injuries.
Public information officer Raquel Zick of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office posted on X at 11:23 a.m., saying, “”Please avoid the area. Scene has not been deemed safe.”
There has been an arrest, according to a Santa Maria City spokeswoman. In front of the arraignment courtroom of the courthouse, according to bystanders, the suspect flung the rucksack, and it detonated.
“I heard what sounded like a bunch of chairs falling over, but it was a loud bang,” witness Shane Mellon stated to KSBY News.
Mellon claimed that when the explosion happened, he and other people were seated inside the courthouse. Mellon, a judge, and other people were led out of the courthouse by the bailiff, who also led them by what seemed to be a “sweater smoldering” on the ground.
Mellon claimed to have witnessed “an individual that was screaming and four or five people on top of him trying to keep him restrained.”
Mellon was shown a video by a different witness of the man while security was attempting to remove his clothes.
“He had a bunch of bullets that were coming out of his clothes,” Mellon stated. “This could have been way worse than it was if not for the deputies just jumping on top of that guy.”
When emergency vehicles arrived on the scene, they set up shop on East Cook Street and blocked the courthouse parking lot’s entrance. While police investigate the crime scene, the courthouse is closed for the remainder of the day at least.
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The suspect was observed being moved by Santa Maria Police into the squad car of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff so that he could be processed.
The explosion was attended to by ambulances from American Medical Response, Santa Maria Police, Santa Barbara County Sheriff, California Highway Patrol, and Santa Barbara County Fire Department units.
Santa Maria is situated around 158 miles northwest of Los Angeles on U.S. 101.
By: upi.com
