Police responding to reports of explosion at California courthouse

Police are responding to reports of an explosion at a courthouse in Santa Barbara, California on Thursday.

The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office urged residents to stay away from the area, saying it has not yet been deemed safe. Authorities have not clarified whether anyone has been injured.

“Santa Maria Courthouse: report of an explosion. Please avoid the area. Scene has not been deemed safe. More info to follow,” SBSO spokesperson Raquel Zick said in a statement.

Reports from local media say at least one suspect has been detained, and that police are searching for potential explosives at other locations.

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The incident comes just hours after a bus in Los Angeles was hijacked Wednesday morning, leading to a pursuit by police.

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A suspect fatally shot a passenger before hijacking the vehicle and then leading police on a wild chase for over an hour before he was apprehended by a SWAT team, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) tells Fox News Digital.

Police say the suspect shot at least one person before holding the driver at gunpoint and forcing him to drive northbound. During the initial stages of the hijacking, other passengers were seen exiting the bus, police say.

A bus hijacking and a Speed-style chase took place in Los Angeles early Wednesday when a suspect shot a passenger and then took police on an hours-long chase. (KTTV)

The LAPD’s SWAT team eventually stopped the bus at 2:05 a.m. in the vicinity of South Alameda Street and 6th Street, about six miles northeast of where the initial hijacking took place. 

Police deployed spike strips to slow it down and it eventually came to a stop before the suspect barricaded himself in the vehicle.

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The suspect was taken into custody and the injured victim was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition but later succumbed to his injuries, police say. Police say the incident is now being treated as a homicide investigation.