Santa Maria courthouse explosion in California was "intentionally set," sheriff says, leaving 5 hurt

Five people were hurt and a man has been detained after an explosion was intentionally set off at a Santa Maria courthouse, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday morning.

Authorities received a call reporting the explosion at 8:48 a.m. and a person of interest was detained "immediately," Raquel Zick, spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office, wrote in a post to X. 

Zick identified the suspect as 20-year-old Nathaniel McGuire. Police said the suspect was expected in court today for a firearms charge. Investigators believe he detonated the explosive because of his recent arrest.

"Explosion was from an intentionally set improvised explosive device," Zick wrote in a post just before 11 a.m.

Later, city officials announced that Santa Maria City Hall, the city's Finance Department, City Attorney's Office, Santa Maria Public Library and the city's Recreation and Parks Department would all be closed due to the investigation into the bomb explosion. 

People were told to avoid the area by sheriff's officials. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department later said it was monitoring the situation as it provides security for 37 courthouses across L.A. County, which is roughly 180 miles south of the city of Santa Maria in northern Santa Barbara County. 

"As a precaution we are on heightened alert and providing extra patrols in and around our courts," sheriff's officials said in a post to X. "At this time there are no credible threats to any courthouses in Los Angeles County."

Separately, the San Joaquin County Courthouse in Stockton was also evacuated Wednesday after a bomb threat. 

No other details have been released by authorities.

The Santa Maria courthouse is the same building where Michael Jackson faced a trial on child molestation charges in 2005 before being acquitted.