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A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy injured in a fire at a mobile shooting range at the Pitchess Detention Center in October has died, the department confirmed.
Deputy Alfredo “Freddy” Flores died Saturday evening, KTLA5 reported, citing Joe Nunez, the Flores’ family attorney. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately identify the deputy Sunday morning, but was expected to release further information later.
The training accident occurred on Oct. 10, 2023 at the Pitchess Detention Center, one of the custody facilities at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic.
According to Nunez’s statement on behalf of Flores’ family, the cause of the fire was “the malfunction of equipment during a training drill.”
The fire erupted around 9:30 a.m. that day inside a 53-foot trailer configured as a mobile shooting range.
When firefighters arrived at the facility in the 29300 block of The Old Road, they determined that two injured deputies had been taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital by other deputies. Specific details about the nature and extent of their injuries were not released at that time, with Sheriff Robert Luna saying only that their injuries “are consistent with a fire.”
County fire crews worked throughout the morning to douse the stubborn fire within the trailer, with the unexploded ammunition hampering the effort. The fire was eventually declared a knockdown at 1:20 p.m. and was contained to the single mobile trailer.
Flores was a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, according to KTLA5.
The condition of the other injured deputy was not immediately clear.
(source)