Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar was convicted of first-degree murder and later found legally sane in the 2023 Palmdale killing.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A California man convicted of ambushing Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer as the deputy waited at a red light is scheduled to return to court Oct. 1 for sentencing, completing the next major step in a case that began with a fatal shooting outside the Palmdale sheriff’s station three years ago.

Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar, 32, was convicted Aug. 24 of first-degree murder in Clinkunbroomer’s Sept. 16, 2023, death. Jurors also found true special-circumstance allegations that the victim was a peace officer, that Salazar lay in wait and that the killing involved firing from a vehicle. The panel further found that Salazar personally used and discharged a .22-caliber revolver. Because Salazar had also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, the same case then entered a separate proceeding to decide whether he was legally sane when he committed the crime.

The shooting happened less than a block from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Palmdale station. Prosecutors said Salazar followed Clinkunbroomer after the uniformed deputy left the station in a marked patrol vehicle. At an intersection near Sierra Highway and Avenue Q, Clinkunbroomer stopped for a red light. A vehicle pulled alongside the patrol unit, and the deputy was shot before the other vehicle sped away. Clinkunbroomer was 30. The attack, carried out in daylight near his own station, immediately triggered a large-scale search involving sheriff’s investigators and assistance from other agencies.

A passerby later found Clinkunbroomer unconscious inside the patrol vehicle and alerted authorities. The deputy was taken to Antelope Valley Medical Center, where he died. Investigators began reviewing surveillance recordings from the area and looking for a dark-colored Toyota Corolla seen near the patrol vehicle. Officials appealed publicly for information as law enforcement agencies and local organizations announced rewards. For investigators, the early challenge was identifying the driver of a car caught on video during a shooting that had unfolded within seconds and left no obvious suspect at the scene.

The investigation gained an important lead from another driver who had encountered an aggressive motorist shortly before the deputy was shot. Evidence presented during court proceedings showed that the motorist had photographed the other vehicle’s license plate. Authorities connected that information to Salazar’s residence. Investigators also determined that a .22-caliber firearm was associated with someone at the home. Salazar was arrested there two days after the killing, and detectives recovered a .22-caliber revolver during the investigation. Prosecutors later used the combination of surveillance evidence, the vehicle identification and other statements and records to build the case presented to jurors.

The guilt phase of the trial did not center only on who fired the shot. Salazar’s defense had acknowledged that the case would also involve his mental condition, while prosecutors argued that his conduct showed planning and purpose. At an earlier court hearing, a sheriff’s homicide detective testified that Salazar acknowledged his involvement while being questioned after his arrest. Prosecutors also introduced evidence from a secretly recorded jail conversation in which they said Salazar told undercover operatives that he had wanted to kill a police officer for years and had previously followed officers while preparing himself for an attack.

Those statements became important when prosecutors argued that the Palmdale shooting was not simply an unexplained act committed in a moment of confusion. They pointed to Salazar’s movements before the shooting, his decision to follow the marked patrol vehicle and his flight afterward. The jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours before finding him guilty of first-degree murder. Its findings on the special circumstances established that jurors accepted the prosecution’s argument that Salazar had targeted a law enforcement officer and had lain in wait before the killing.

The verdict did not end the trial because of Salazar’s insanity plea. Defense attorney George Rosenstock presented evidence that his client had suffered from serious mental illness and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia years before the shooting. During the sanity phase, the defense pointed to hallucinations and delusional beliefs described by Salazar and by mental-health professionals who had reviewed his condition. The legal question, however, was narrower than whether he had a diagnosed mental illness. Jurors were asked to decide whether his condition met California’s standard for legal insanity at the time Clinkunbroomer was killed.

Prosecutors responded by focusing again on Salazar’s actions before, during and after the shooting. They argued that his conduct showed he understood what he was doing and could distinguish right from wrong despite evidence of mental illness. They also cited his statements after the killing, including the recorded jail conversation, as evidence of his state of mind. On Sept. 2, after about a day and a half of deliberations, the jury found Salazar legally sane. That decision rejected the defense request for an insanity finding that could have resulted in commitment to a state hospital rather than imprisonment.

The case carried particular weight within the Sheriff’s Department because Clinkunbroomer came from a family with a long history of service in the agency. He had worked for the department for about eight years and had been assigned to the Palmdale station since 2018. During the last roughly 18 months of his career, he served as a field training officer, helping prepare less-experienced deputies for patrol work. Colleagues remembered him as dependable and calm, and he had spoken about eventually becoming a detective.

His personal life had also entered a new chapter just before he was killed. Four days before the shooting, Clinkunbroomer had become engaged. His family and colleagues later described a deputy looking toward marriage, a family of his own and continued advancement in the department. In the days after his death, mourners gathered at the Palmdale station and left flowers, candles and other memorials. A procession accompanied his body from the Antelope Valley area to the county medical examiner’s office, reflecting the impact of the killing across the local law enforcement community.

The murder conviction nearly three years later answered the central question of criminal responsibility, while the Sept. 2 sanity finding resolved the separate issue raised by Salazar’s insanity plea. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said after the proceedings that the verdicts held Salazar accountable for Clinkunbroomer’s death. Sheriff Robert Luna again emphasized the deputy’s service and his family’s loss. Those statements followed years of court proceedings that moved from the initial arrest and murder charge through a preliminary hearing and, eventually, a jury trial.

Currently, Salazar is scheduled to appear before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen on Oct. 1. With the first-degree murder conviction, special-circumstance findings and the jury’s rejection of the insanity defense in place, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentencing hearing is the next confirmed court proceeding in a case that began with an unidentified car leaving a Palmdale intersection and ended with two jury determinations on criminal guilt and legal sanity.

Author note: Last updated September 30, 2026.