16 SWAT Team Members Hospitalized After Explosion During Training Exercise
16 SWAT Team members were injured during a training exercise with the Sheriff’s Hazardous Devices Section on Wednesday
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16 members of the Orange Country Sheriff Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team were injured after an indoor explosion during a training exercise in Irvine, California on Wednesday.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) announced the injuries in a Facebook statement about the incident on Wednesday.
The SWAT team members were injured while training with the Hazardous Devices Section (HDS) at the FBI Special Agent Jerry Crowe Regional Tactical Training Facility in Irvine.
Per the statement, 15 members of the SWAT team were transported to local hospitals by ambulance and one was able to transport himself to the hospital.
The officer with the most serious injury will require surgery on a leg wound. Another team member sustained a superficial injury to his back and a third sustained a superficial injury to his leg.
Sgt. Frank Gonzalez told the Associated Press that the cause of the explosion, which happened shortly before 1 p.m. local time during a training exercise with the sheriff’s bomb squad.
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Per the statement, the most common injury on the team was "dizziness and ringing to their ears."
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department told PEOPLE that 15 out of the 16 SWAT team members who were hospitalized have since been discharged, but one team member is still under medical care while recovering from surgery.
The FBI confirmed on Wednesday that the explosion occurred in the afternoon at its facility. No FBI agents were injured but per a statement from Bureau spokesperson Laura Eimiller obtained by PEOPLE.
The FBI is assisting the OCSD in its investigation into the matter, which is ongoing.
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Read the original article on People.
