Local authorities said an explosion hit the Santa Maria Superior Court north of Santa Barbara in Central California at about 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 25.
Five people were injured in Wednesday’s explosion, and the building was evacuated. An adult male suspect was immediately detained, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Raquel Zick reported on X.
Zick said the explosion “was from an intentionally set improvised explosive device.”
The people injured were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff’s office.
“This stage of the investigation is slow moving and detectives don’t believe there are any additional outstanding suspects,” Zick wrote. “The bomb team is processing the scene and the suspect is still being interviewed.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the state’s office of emergency services has been notified and is “actively monitoring the explosion” and coordinating with law enforcement, according to a social media post.
The sheriff’s department initially said two people were injured, 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.
The court complex is located on East Cook Street, which is near the coast and about 65 miles north of Santa Barbara near Pismo Beach and the Los Padres National Forest. The city of about 110,000 people is in Santa Barbara County, in California’s central coast region.
The city of Santa Maria closed city hall, the city attorney’s office, public library, and parks and recreation departments for the day as law enforcement investigated the explosion.
Patrols were stepped up at courthouses in neighboring Los Angeles County, the sheriff’s department there said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
