A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was killed when he was ambushed and shot in the head while sitting in his patrol car Saturday — four days after he had become engaged, police said.
Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was discovered unconscious outside the Palmdale sheriff’s station at approximately 6 p.m., Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference late Saturday.
Clinkunbroomer was rushed nearly 10 miles away to Antelope Valley Medical Center in Lancaster, where he was listed in critical condition before he succumbed to his injury.
“I’m assuming at this point because he was in uniform. That, to me, is sickening,” Luna said.
The gunman remains at large as of Sunday morning.
The senseless slaying comes about four days after Clinkunbroomer had just become engaged to his girlfriend, the sheriff revealed.
“We’re gonna catch the person who did this,” Luna said. “Every resource that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has to bear is going after you.”
Law enforcement was seen blocking off a large area outside the station, located about 60 miles northeast of Downtown Los Angeles, with crime tape as they began their investigation into the unprovoked killing of the deputy.
Dramatic video recorded by a bystander showed multiple patrol cars rushing the deputy to the hospital.
Investigators are analyzing a video that shows a car slowly pulling up behind an LASD car around the time the shooting occurred, Luna said.
Security video reviewed by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin allegedly showed a black car pulling up alongside the deputy as he was in his squad car stopped at a red light near the station.
Moments later, the black car peels off as the deputy’s patrol car slowly creeps forward before coming to a stop, Melugin shared.
Luna paused from reading his notes during the press conference to stress to the public for help identifying the suspect who pulled off the cold-blooded killing.
“We really need your help. We need to get this guy off the street. Guy or guys,” Luna stressed. “He’s a public safety threat. He ambushed and killed one of our deputies.”
Clinkunbroomer spent about eight years with the department and transferred to the Palmdale station in July 2018.
The officer had been a field training officer for nearly two years.
He was a third-generation LASD member, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
“Just about everybody worked with his father,” Luna said of senior members in the LASD. “We’re hurting because we lost somebody. It always hurts.”
“They try to prepare you for this and no matter how much they do, it hurts bad.”
