A 17-year-old boy was killed after a high-powered, illegal firework exploded in a backyard — rocking a neighborhood with a blast so powerful residents thought it was a bomb.
The explosive detonated around 9:30 p.m. at a home on the 400 block of West 84th Street in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of South LA late Wednesday , according to the LAPD.
First responders found the boy in critical condition, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital.
A box of 357-shot aerial “cake” fireworks were found at the scene.
The fatal blast happened around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 3.
Investigators at the scene discovered a box labeled “Cash Game 357,” a massive 357-shot aerial known for unleashing a rapid-fire barrage of continuous explosions.
The heavy-duty “cake” firework is illegal in California, where even smaller “safe and sane” fireworks are heavily regulated. However, it’s not immediately clear if that specific firework went off, and investigators have not confirmed what kind of explosive it was that killed the boy.
The LAPD Bomb Squad, Hazardous Materials Unit, and detectives from the Major Crimes Division all responded to the scene to investigate the area post-blast.
The department assured the public that there were no ongoing safety concerns, saying officers seized “a large quantity of illegal pyrotechnic devices,” and took any explosive materials to a “safe storage location.”
