Jury Finds Man Who Killed LASD Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer Was Sane at...

Jury Finds Man Who Killed LASD Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer Was Sane at Time of Palmdale Ambush

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A jury on Wednesday found that the man convicted of murdering Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was legally sane at the time of the 2023 ambush-style shooting in Palmdale.

The verdict came just over a week after Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar was found guilty of murder in the Sept. 16, 2023, killing of Clinkunbroomer.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna was in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom when the jury announced its decision in the sanity phase of the trial.

Clinkunbroomer was on duty and stopped at a red light near the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station when Salazar pulled alongside his patrol vehicle and fatally shot him with a .22-caliber revolver.

Salazar was convicted of murder along with special circumstance allegations involving the murder of a peace officer, lying in wait and firing from a vehicle. Jurors also found true allegations that Salazar personally used and discharged the firearm.

Salazar had previously entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

The sanity finding means Salazar will face sentencing through the state prison system rather than being committed to a state mental health facility based on an insanity verdict.

Clinkunbroomer, 30, was an eight-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and had become engaged just days before he was killed.