LA County Sheriff Gives Emotional Presser After Ambush Suspect Caught: ‘Never Gave Our Deputy A Chance’

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna held an emotional press conference to announce a suspect has been arrested in the ambush killing of 30-year-old Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer.

The sheriff’s office SWAT team took 29-year-old Kevin Cataneo Salazar into custody Monday morning after he barricaded himself inside a house. Luna said his team was able to take control of the tense situation and arrest Salazar without incident.

“I want to take a pause for a second when I talk about how proud I am of this department after a significant tragedy that we’ve shared with all of you, because those special enforcement deputies took the time to try to de-escalate this and take this individual peacefully into custody when they knew that our deputy was not afforded the same opportunity. He never gave our deputy a chance,” Luna said.

Deputy Clinkunbroomer was on duty and sitting in his marked car near the Palmdale police station Saturday when he was shot and killed.

“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, 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 volunteer 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,” Luna said before choking up.

Luna said the investigation is far from over and asked for the public’s help as the Sheriff’s office tries to piece together exactly what happened.

He then read a statement from Clinkunbroomer’s family:

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 first born son, Ryan will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and the sheriff’s department as a whole.

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.