Man found guilty in ambush-style slaying of newly engaged sheriff’s deputy in Palmdale
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- A jury convicted Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar of first-degree murder in the 2023 ambush-style shooting of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer.
- The 30-year-old, third-generation deputy was shot in the head while waiting at a red light near the Palmdale station just four days after celebrating his engagement.
- Jurors next weigh whether Salazar was legally sane at the time of the shooting, a decision that will send him either to state prison or a psychiatric hospital.
Four days after proposing to the love of his life, third-generation Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was shot in the back of his head while sitting in a marked patrol car in Palmdale.
Now, nearly three years after the deputy’s death, a guilty verdict has been reached against the man who carried out the ambush-style killing.
On Monday, Clinkunbroomer’s family was joined in a courtroom by L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna and Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman as jurors found Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar, 32, guilty of murder. The jury also found to be true allegations that he deliberately lay in wait and committed a premeditated murder of a peace officer.
Salazar and jurors are due back in court Wednesday for proceedings regarding his sanity at the time of the shooting, which will determine whether he is sent to state prison or committed to a state hospital.
Experts say the 29-year-old man accused of shooting a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office deputy may have slipped through the cracks of California gun regulation after a mental health hospitalization.
Hochman called Monday’s verdict an important step toward justice and accountability.
“This brutal and senseless murder took the life of a dedicated deputy, leaving his family, colleagues and community to endure an unimaginable loss,” he said in a statement. “We hope today’s guilty verdict brings a measure of healing to Deputy Clinkunbroomer’s family and loved ones.”
His fiancée, Brittany Lindsey, had described the 30-year-old deputy as the best guy she’d ever met.
“I am so happy I was able to love him. It was not long enough,” she said at a news conference when the murder charge was announced.
Salazar’s attorney George Rosenstock said in a statement that it was not disputed that his client shot and killed Clinkunbroomer from a car.
“The more difficult question of his legal sanity at the time of the offense will now be before the jury,” Rosenstock said.
Clinkunbroomer was shot with a .22-caliber revolver in broad daylight on Sept. 16, 2023, while waiting at a traffic signal in front of the department’s Palmdale station.
Salazar was identified as the suspect after a motorist contacted authorities regarding a driver who had aggressively confronted him minutes before Clinkunbroomer was killed, according to evidence presented at a prior hearing. Two days after the shooting, deputies arrested Salazar at his Palmdale home, where a .22-caliber revolver was recovered.
He entered a dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The initial phase of the trial, which concluded Monday, focused on determining whether Salazar committed the killing. The sanity phase of the trial will determine whether he was insane at the time of the act.
Ryan Clinkunbroomer is remembered for his work ethic, his humor, his hopes and dreams. The deputy was hoping to start a family soon and wanted, one day, to become a detective.
Rosenstock wrote in court filings that Salazar could not distinguish right from wrong or understand the nature of his actions because of his mental state. The attorney seeks to call on family members and mental health professionals to talk about Salazar’s history of mental illness.
Salazar’s mother told The Times in 2023 that her son heard voices telling him to kill himself and twice was hospitalized because of his mental health.
While in jail, he told two undercover operatives that he wanted to kill a police office for years and had driven around following officers and playing music to prepare himself, prosecutors allege.
If a jury finds that he was sane during the slaying, he faces a possible life sentence in prison. Otherwise, he will be sent to a state hospital for psychiatric treatment.
Clinkunbroomer was described by colleagues as a smart and dependable guy often assigned to teach others how to do various jobs at work. He followed his father and grandfather into the profession, and his goal was to become a detective.
“Ryan dedicated his life to service, proudly carrying on his family’s legacy as a third-generation member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” Luna said in a statement Monday. “We will forever honor his service, his sacrifice and the badge he proudly wore.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
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