A Los Angeles County jury needed just two and a half hours to convict Kevin Salazar of first-degree murder for the drive-by shooting of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, a 30-year-old, third-generation lawman gunned down at a red light steps from his own station.
Salazar, 32, followed Clinkunbroomer from the Palmdale Sheriff's Station on the evening of September 16, 2023, pulled alongside the deputy's marked patrol car at the intersection of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q, and shot him in the head with a.22 revolver. Clinkunbroomer, still in uniform, was pronounced dead at a hospital. The intersection sits less than a block from the station where he reported for duty.
The Monday verdict came after a week-long trial. Jurors found Salazar guilty on every count, including special-circumstance allegations of murdering a peace officer, lying in wait, and firing from a vehicle, Fox News Digital reported. A sanity phase is set for Wednesday to determine whether Salazar goes to state prison or a state mental hospital, after the defense raised an insanity plea.
The facts of the shooting are stark. Around 6 p.m. that September evening, Clinkunbroomer left the Palmdale station in his marked car. Salazar allegedly tailed him to the nearby red light, pulled up beside him, fired into his head, and sped off. No confrontation preceded the shot. No traffic stop. No dispute.
Brad Gage, the attorney representing the Clinkunbroomer family, told Fox News Digital that no motive has ever been established.
"As far as we know, there was no reason. It was just execution of a police officer."
Two days after the shooting, law enforcement located Salazar at his family's home in Palmdale. He was arrested on murder charges following a standoff. The New York Post reported that community tips helped investigators identify Salazar through surveillance footage of a dark gray Toyota Corolla, and that he barricaded himself inside before surrendering to SWAT officers roughly 36 hours after the killing.
Sheriff Robert Luna addressed the arrest directly at the time. "Our deputies gave this suspect an opportunity to peacefully give up," Luna said. "That is not the right that was afforded to our deputy three days ago out here on the street."
Clinkunbroomer came from a law enforcement family. His grandfather, father, and brother all served. Sheriff Luna described him as "a third-generation member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department." He was 30 years old and had gotten engaged to Brittany Lindsey just four days before the shooting.
Lindsey spoke publicly after the arrest. "Ryan was the best guy I ever met," she said. "I couldn't wait to start our lives together." In a photograph from a September 20, 2023, news conference at the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles, Sheriff Luna is pictured comforting Lindsey and Clinkunbroomer's parents, Kim and Mike Clinkunbroomer.
The deputy's family later filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County, alleging that mandatory overtime and understaffing had left Clinkunbroomer exhausted and more vulnerable to the ambush. The county was dismissed from the suit on workers' compensation grounds. The family ultimately decided not to pursue a civil case against Salazar. In January 2026, the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation renamed a sports complex in Clinkunbroomer's honor.
High-profile criminal cases across the country continue to test whether the justice system delivers accountability for victims and their families. In New York, prosecutors recently dropped a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein after two hung juries, a reminder that convictions are never guaranteed, even in cases that draw national attention.
Salazar pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. AP News reported that his mother told the court he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia five years before the shooting and had previously called police for help when he refused medication. Then-District Attorney George Gascón vowed at the time that prosecutors would "do everything in our power to make sure the defendant never gets out of prison."
The jury's Monday verdict rejected the defense's arguments after the week-long trial. But the case is not finished. The sanity phase set for Wednesday will determine whether Salazar is sent to prison or confined in a state mental hospital. The distinction matters: a mental hospital commitment could, under California law, eventually lead to release proceedings, a prospect the district attorney's office has signaled it will oppose.
Current District Attorney Nathan Hochman issued a statement after the guilty verdict.
"This brutal and senseless murder took the life of a dedicated deputy, leaving his family, colleagues and community to endure an unimaginable loss. We hope today's guilty verdict brings a measure of healing to Deputy Clinkunbroomer's family and loved ones."
Sheriff Luna followed with his own remarks, honoring the deputy's legacy. "Ryan dedicated his life to service, proudly carrying on his family's legacy," Luna said. "We will forever honor his service, his sacrifice and the badge he proudly wore. Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer will never be forgotten."
Unsolved and unresolved violent crime cases remain a source of anguish for families nationwide. In Arizona, the Pima County sheriff has pledged to solve the Nancy Guthrie abduction case as evidence continues to accumulate, another family waiting for answers the system has been slow to provide.
Brad Gage, who announced the precursor of the family's civil lawsuit at a November 28, 2023, news conference alongside Clinkunbroomer's parents, spoke about what the conviction means to a family that has spent more than a year and a half living with the consequences of one man's actions.
"It's very helpful that the justice system prevail, that you have a conviction that is a benefit to the family. That gives some solace. That gives some comfort."
But Gage made clear that no verdict erases the loss.
"When a parent loses a child, there's no name for it. It's so painful, it's so traumatic, it is so devastating that it is beyond words."
Questions about what drives violent attacks on law enforcement, and whether the justice system responds with sufficient gravity, are not confined to this case. In another California matter, a man was recently arrested for allegedly threatening a judge connected to a separate death investigation, underscoring the pressures that violent crime places on every corner of the legal system.
The facts of the Clinkunbroomer case are not complicated. A uniformed deputy, driving a marked car, stopped at a red light a few hundred feet from his own station. A man followed him there, pulled alongside, and shot him dead. No provocation. No warning. No known motive. The jury saw that and needed less than three hours to reach its verdict.
What remains is the sanity phase, and whether the system that convicted Salazar will ensure he never walks free. For the Clinkunbroomer family, and for every deputy who puts on a badge and drives to work, that answer matters more than the verdict itself.
