Topline:
The man arrested in connection with the shooting death of an L.A. County sheriff's deputy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder with special circumstances.
Why now: The suspect, Kevin Cataneo Salazar, made his first appearance in a Lancaster courtroom Wednesday.
The backstory: Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was found shot in his patrol car outside the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Saturday evening. Authorities said he was on duty and alone when he was “ambushed” at a red light near the intersection of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q.
Read more: ... on how the shooting and arrest unfolded.
The man arrested in connection with the shooting death of an L.A. County sheriff's deputy pleaded not guilty Wednesday by reason of insanity to murder with special circumstances.
The suspect, Kevin Cataneo Salazar, made his first appearance in a Lancaster courtroom Wednesday. The murder charge against him carries three special circumstances: killing of a peace officer, lying and waiting, and discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle.
Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was found shot in his patrol car outside the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Saturday evening. Authorities said he was on duty and alone when he was “ambushed” at a red light near the intersection of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said at a news conference Wednesday that if Salazar is convicted of murder, he will face a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
“If I thought seeking the death penalty would bring Ryan back to us, I would seek it without any reservation,”Gascón said. “But it won’t. If I thought the death penalty would stop people from committing brutal murders, I would seek it. But we know that it won’t.”
Gascón made the announcement surrounded by the Clinkunbroomer family and deputies from the Palmdale station. With the flags at half staff, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna made sure Clinkunbroomer’s mother, Kim, and his fiance, Brittany, had enough tissues. Luna said his family had just delivered Clinkunbroomer’s body to a mortuary.
Luna said the Palmdale community came forward with valuable information that led them to Salazar, who was taken into custody Monday night at his family home in Palmdale after an hours-long standoff.
Authorities said they believe Salazar bought a firearm weeks ago, but they declined to say if it was purchased legally. They said Clinkunbroomer had been targeted, but they didn’t reveal much more about the case.
“We are not being cagey,” Gascón said. “We are simply protecting the integrity of the investigation and prosecution.”
Clinkunbroomer, 30, was an eight-year veteran of the sheriff’s department and had been stationed in Palmdale since 2019. His grandfather, father, and mother have all served with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Clinkunbroomer had just proposed to his girlfriend Brittany a few days before he was killed.
“I am so happy I was able to love him,” she said at the news conference. “It was not long enough.”
