An explosion at the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria injured five people Wednesday morning.
Authorities said the suspect, 20-year-old Nathaniel McGuire, detonated the improvised explosive device concealed in a bag just after 8:30 a.m.
The device exploded near the security screening station just outside Department 9.
McGuire was reportedly apprehended as he was trying to enter his car. Undersheriff Craig Bonner said he was found to be wearing body armor under his jacket.
He was booked on several charges, including attempted murder.
RELATED | Suspect in custody, 5 injured after explosion at Santa Maria courthouse
KSBY spoke to witnesses who described the frightening moments.
"I tried to relax, but I can't," Andrea Castaneda, who works at the courthouse, said. "I just keep replaying it over and over in my head."
Castaneda was at court for work and said she was almost 8 feet from where the explosion went off.
"All of a sudden you see the blast, and the boom, and then the smoke." said Castaneda, "It's just — it was scary. It was scary."
When Castaneda saw the explosive go off, she ran as fast as she could to another part of the court, letting others know what had happened, she said.
"You don't think that you get up for work that day and then you're going to court and something like this is going to happen," said Castaneda.
Iris Gomez was serving breakfast at a coffee shop on Broadway — just one street away from the courthouse — when the bomb exploded.
“My manager came in and she was like, 'Yeah that’s a detective, because there was a bomb in the courthouse,'" Gomez said.
She said she considered what to do after the bomb exploded.
“Should we evacuate? Could it reach all the way here?” Gomez said.
Even closer to the scene of the crime, Adrian Paris, was in court when the bomb went off.
"There was a loud explosion noise — loud boom, singular," Paris said. "And the courtroom sort of stopped for the moment. And we started hearing chatter over the bailiff's walkie-talkie and we were all rushed out of the courtroom."
He said being so close to the scene made him fear for his safety.
“When the first boom sort of happened, there's a lot of confusion because you don't know exactly what's going on. The alarm started to kick off after that," Paris said. "So we knew something was up, especially since all the proceedings got interrupted. Then you start to get more worried: 'Is there going to be a second and third?'"
Joaquin Aguilar, an interpreter at the courthouse, witnessed the chaos that followed the explosion.
"I was sitting at a table waiting for the courtroom to open as usual and then we heard a commotion," he said. "We had no idea initially what it was but the bailiff came out and said we need to evacuate. As we walked past security we saw the smoke and we knew something was going on."
He said he saw the suspect get arrested.
"It was very quick," said Aguilar. "I managed to snap the photograph as I was walking past."
Both Castaneda and Aguilar said the scary moments have left them rattled.
"I will be doing Zoom court for a while I'm pretty sure," said Castaneda.
"I'm putting myself back together and waiting for all to settle and maybe going back to work," said Aguilar.
Shane Mellon appeared in court Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing and was evacuated shortly after.
Mellon said the situation could have escalated, if not for law enforcement's quick intervention.
"One of the people that was close by showed me a video of the guy when they were cutting the clothes off of him. He had like a bunch of bullets that were coming out of his clothes and stuff," Mellon said, "I think this could have been way worse if not for the deputies just jumping on top of that guy."
McGuire, who was not injured in the explosion, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, using an explosive device in attempting to kill someone and possession of explosive devices. He is being held without bail.
The Santa Maria courthouse is expected to remain closed through Sunday, Sept. 29.
