UPDATE: A Southern California man has been arrested in Palmdale for the shooting death of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, officials announced Monday. Read MORE.
PALMDALE, California – A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot while in his patrol vehicle in what authorities described as an ambush in Palmdale.
Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, a 30-year-old field training officer, was shot Saturday just outside the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station at the corner of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q according to ABC7.
Sheriff Robert Luna said a good Samaritan found the deputy unconscious inside the vehicle around 6 p.m.
Clinkunbroomer was quickly rushed to the Antelope Valley Medical Center in Lancaster where he later died.
Luna said Clinkunbroomer’s death is being investigated as a murder and is seeking the public’s help.
“We really need your help,” said Luna. “We need to get this guy off the street, guy or guys. He’s a public safety threat. He ambushed and killed, murdered, one of our deputies. We need your help to get him off the street.”
Clinkunbroomer was an eight-year veteran of the department and had been with the Palmdale station since July 2018. He had been working as a field training officer for the past year and a half.
Describing Clinkunbroomer as “the best of the best,” Luna said that his grandfather and father both had worked for the sheriff’s department.
“Service was running through his veins … so unfair,” said Luna. “He embodied the values of bravery, selflessness and an absolute commitment to justice.”
Clinkunbroomer had just celebrated his engagement a few days before he was killed.
The suspect has not yet been captured.
