(Reuters) – Los Angeles authorities have detained a person of interest in connection with the murder of a county sheriff’s deputy who was ambushed and fatally shot at a traffic light on Saturday, the sheriff’s office said on Monday.
A reward of $250,000 was offered on Sunday for any information regarding the shooting of Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, as he sat in his patrol car at a red light just outside a sheriff’s station in the city of Palmdale, about 55 miles (90 km) northeast of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles County sheriff’s office on Monday said a person of interest had been detained but provided no details.
The sheriff’s office said it would hold its next news conference on the matter at 10:30 am PST on Monday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna at a news conference on Sunday said Clinkunbroomer had been targeted because he was a law enforcement officer.
“Without warning, he was murdered while serving our community,” Luna said.
A passerby found Clinkunbroomer at the wheel of his patrol cruiser gravely wounded about 6 p.m. on Saturday and called for help, police said. Clinkunbroomer, who served for eight years on the force, died at the hospital.
Clinkunbroomer, who had just gotten engaged to be married, was a third-generation member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, the sheriff said.
“Service was running through his veins,” the sheriff said in a post on Instagram.
Local, state and federal officials had offered assistance in locating the shooter, Luna said.
This year 83 ambush-style attacks have targeted police in the United States, resulting in 15 officers killed by gunfire, according to the National Fraternal Order of Police.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Chris Reese)
