Six people were injured and one person was detained after an explosion at a courthouse in Santa Maria, officials said.
The blast was caused by “an intentionally set improvised explosion device,” a Santa Barbara sheriff‘s Office spokesperson said in a social media post.
In a post on X, the city of Santa Maria referred to the incident as a “bomb explosion.”
The explosion was reported at 8:48 a.m., triggering a rapid response from Santa Maria Police and Santa Barbara sheriff’s deputies.
Six people were taken to Marian Regional Medical Center after the explosion, said Joe Bailey, a spokesperson with the hospital.
Five of the people taken to the hospital were reported to be in “fair” and “good” condition, Bailey said, meaning their vital signs were stable and normal.
A sixth person was transported later in the day, Bailey said, and their condition was not immediately known.
One person of interest has also been detained at the scene, she said. The person was described only as an adult male.
No other suspects were believed to have been involved, she said. By Wednesday afternoon, the Santa Barbara Sheriff‘s Office bomb team was searching the area, and the suspect was being interviewed.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services were in touch with local law enforcement agencies and monitoring the incident, Newsom’s office said in post on X.
The explosion prompted city officials to temporarily lock down other public facilities nearby, including Santa Maria’s City Hall, finance department, library and recreation and parks department.
Officials said the closures are a precautionary measure.
