5 Hurt In Explosion At California Courthouse, Person Of Interest Detained

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A man set off an explosive device at a California courthouse on Wednesday, injuring five people and leading to the evacuation and closing of the court complex and other city buildings, officials said.

A suspect was detained following the explosion that was reported shortly after 8:45 a.m. at the Santa Maria Courthouse in Santa Maria, sheriff’s officials said. The small city of about 110,000 people is in Santa Barbara County, in California’s central coast region.

“Scene remains active. Please continue to avoid the area,” county sheriff’s spokesperson Raquel Zick posted on the social platform X.

Zick later said the person detained was a man and that the blast came from “an intentionally set” explosive device. She said investigators don’t believe there are any other suspects.

“The bomb team is processing the scene and the suspect is still being interviewed,” Zick later said on X.

The sheriff’s department initially said two people sustained non-life-threatening injuries, but Sandy Doucette, a spokesperson for Marian Regional Medical Center, said the hospital was treating five patients in connection with the explosion. Two were in good condition and three in fair condition on Wednesday morning, Doucette said, without providing details of their injuries.

Shane Mellon told KSBY-TV that he was at the courthouse when he heard what sounded like chairs falling over.

“It was a loud bang,” he said, adding the bailiff escorted him and others out.

Mellon said he saw what looked like a sweater smoldering and a man screaming while four or five people got on top of him, trying to keep him restrained.

“I think this could have been way worse than it was if not for the deputies just jumping on top of that guy,”