CALIFORNIA—A rookie LAPD officer who is suspected of murdering a 23-year-old man in a Pomona parking lot on March 13, is evading police and has since been terminated from the department.
Officer Henry Solis, 27, is alleged to have shot and killed Salome Rodriguez Jr. during an altercation early Friday morning.
Following a March 18 autopsy, a Los Angeles County coroner’s report indicated that Rodriguez died of multiple gunshot wounds.
While Solis’ Volkswagen had been found a short distance from the crime scene, the ex-probationary officer has not been seen since the incident, prompting a warrant to be issued for his arrest and a manhunt, which now involves federal investigators.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck signed Solis’ termination papers on March 17, the day after his arrest warrant was issued.
“Henry Solis failed to meet the minimum standards of the Los Angeles Police Department and has been terminated effective immediately,” Chief Beck declared.
“If Henry Solis is watching this, you have dishonored this police department, your country and your service to the country, and your family,” said Beck in a live news conference on March 18. “And you should turn yourself in and face the consequences for your actions,” he added.
Solis, an ex-Marine, was hired by the LAPD in June 2014 and had been serving the Devonshire division since November.
A vigil was held for Rodriguez Jr. in front a church adjacent to the location of his murder, on March 18.
The slain victim’s mother, Lidia Rodriguez, was quoted at the vigil saying, “All I want is for [Solis] is to turn himself in so there can be justice.”
