The family of fallen Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Ryan Clinkunbroomer asked for privacy but shared a poignant message honoring the third-generation California peace officer.
The message was shared by Sheriff Robert Luna during an announcement that his suspected killer, Kevin Salazar, 29, of Palmdale, had been apprehended.
It reads:
Our son Ryan was a dedicated, hard-working deputy sheriff who enjoyed working here at the Palmdale station. He was proud to work along the side of his partners that he considered brothers and sisters, as he sacrificed daily to better the community that he served. Ryan made the ultimate sacrifice in doing so. Ryan was recently engaged to the love of his life. As our firstborn son Ryan will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and the sheriff's department as a whole. Please keep Ryan's family, friends, and colleagues in your prayers and respect everyone's privacy during our time of mourning. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
"The entire Antelope Valley Community Assistance played an instrumental role in gleaning information leading to the identification of the suspect," Luna said after the sheriff's department's Special Enforcement Bureau apprehended the suspect. "And again, we're extremely grateful. But here's the thing, the arrest the work that still needs to be done for the prosecution is only part of this.
Clinkunbroomer, 30, was ambushed and shot outside the Palmdale Sheriff's Station at 6 p.m. Saturday as he sat in his patrol car. He died at the hospital.
"I think this taught a lot of people a lot of valuable lessons," he said. "Our deputy left this station in uniform to serve and he was shot and killed. Why? We don't know yet but we intend to find out. But at the end of the day he was in a marked black and white right here in front of the station. And he was murdered. Ambushed by a coward. Our officers and our deputies go out and serve this community every day, putting their lives on the line. So we have a lot to be thankful for that we have men and women who volunteered to do this and families who kiss them goodbye and just pray that they come back home and in this case, Ryan's family will never see him again."
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