The man convicted of ambushing a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sergeant at a Palmdale stoplight was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of release.
Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was shot and died on September 16, 2023, while waiting in his patrol SUV at the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station. Clinkunbroomer had been engaged to marry four days before.
Members of Clinkunbroomer’s family and sheriff’s department coworkers testified on Thursday to deliver victim impact statements prior to sentencing.
Father Michael Clinkunbroomer recalls a farewell talk with his son on the day of his engagement.
“On Sept. 12, 2023, Ryan proposed to his girlfriend,” said Michael Clinkunbroomer, who addressed the court while wearing a pin with his son’s photo. “About 25 family and friends were present. I had never seen Ryan so happy. I walked up to Ryan. I hugged him. I said, ‘I’m proud of you. I love you.’ It would be the last time I ever saw my son alive.”
Michael Clinkunbroomer also told the court that his son was dedicated to his position as a field training officer.
“Ryan enjoyed training newly assigned deputies as to how to work safely in a tough environment and to make it a No. 1 goal to go home safely after every shift,” Clinkunbroomer added. “Soon, Ryan wouldn’t have that opportunity.”
Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar, 32, faces a life sentence without the possibility of release for the shooting in the high desert hamlet north of Los Angeles. On August 24, he was convicted of first-degree murder. Jurors also found true the special circumstance accusations of murdering a peace officer, lying in wait, and firing from a vehicle, as well as claims that he personally used and discharged a.22-caliber revolver.
Special circumstances claims can result in increased possible penalties at sentencing.
Salazar sat silently at a table with his counsel on Thursday, dressed in an orange jumpsuit.
The panel already determined that Salazar was sane at the time of the crime. If jurors had judged him legally insane, he would have been committed to a state mental facility for treatment.
Defense counsel George Rosenstock petitioned Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen for a new trial in the sanity aspect of the case, stating in a court document that the judge should independently examine the evidence presented by the jury and consider both sides.
On Thursday, the court refused the demand for a fresh trial in the sanity aspect of the case.
Prosecutors Michael Blake and David Ayvazian responded that “the defendant proved that he suffered from serious mental illness,” but did not prove that he was legally insane at the time he killed Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer.
During the trial, prosecutors said Salazar intended to kill a law enforcement officer.
Salazar, a Palmdale resident, pled not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity in connection with the crime.
Salazar’s attorney argued that his client was not targeting law enforcement officers. Defense attorney George Rosenstock argued that his client’s thoughts appeared to be “somewhat disorganized” and that the decision to kill was made within seconds. He argued that the panel should reject the allegations of premeditated and deliberate murder and lying in wait.
Both Ayvazian and Rosenstock detailed the defendant’s seemingly erratic behavior on the day of the murder and two days prior, when he was “driving around confronting complete strangers,” according to the defense lawyer.
Ayvazian told jurors that after being arrested, Salazar informed two undercover operatives in jail in a secretly recorded discussion that he had intended to kill a police officer for years and described following cops, parking and waiting, and playing music to prepare himself.
At a June 2024 hearing in which Salazar was ordered to stand trial, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Detective Gustavo Carrillo testified that during detectives’ questioning at the Palmdale sheriff’s station two days after the killing, Salazar acknowledged his involvement in the shooting and “cried for the (expletive) officer,” according to the detective.
During cross-examination by Salazar’s defense at the preliminary hearing, the detective admitted that when asked why he shot the deputy, Salazar said it “started a long time ago before COVID” and that he “began to hear voices in his head.”
A deputy medical examiner ruled that Clinkunbroomer died from a single gunshot wound to the back of his head.
Following the incident, police examined surveillance video evidence to identify a vehicle thought to be a Toyota Corolla, and then asked the public for any information about the vehicle, prosecutors said.
According to Ayvazian, among those who contacted investigators was a driver who testified that he took a photo of the license plate of a vehicle whose driver had aggressively confronted him about seven minutes before authorities believe Clinkunbroomer was shot. During the 2024 hearing, the driver identified Salazar as the person who confronted him.
The deputy was recognized in January when the Castaic Sports Complex was renamed the Ryan M. Clinkunbroomer Castaic Sports Complex, and a road will also bear his name.
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