CALIFORNIA—On September 2, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that a jury found Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar, 32, of Palmdale, legally sane after rejecting his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. He was accused of killing Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy.
A jury convicted Salazar on August 24 of first-degree murder. It also found him guilty of several special circumstance allegations, including lying in wait, firing a weapon from a vehicle, and murder of a peace officer.
At a September 2 press conference, attended by Kim Clinkunbroomer, the deputy’s widow; several other family members; and Deputy Los Angeles County Sheriff Cynthia Knutson, who spoke on their behalf, officials announced the conviction and the ruling on the defendant’s mental state.
On September 16, 2023, Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer left the LASD Palmdale Sheriff’s Station in a marked black-and-white patrol sport utility vehicle or SUV as he was on duty. The defendant followed from the station gate in a Toyota Corolla. At the intersection of Sierra Highway, Deputy Clinkunbroomer stopped at a stop sign and was shot with a .22-caliber revolver fired from the defendant’s vehicle. The shooting occurred in front of the station. Salazar fled the scene. The deputy’s body was found by a resident of Palmdale who notified the station, and other deputies took Clinkunbroomer to the nearby Antelope Valley Medical Center for treatment, where he died.
The LASD Homicide Bureau began its investigation, with assistance from Palmdale residents. Two days later, the Special Enforcement Bureau searched Salazar’s residence in the 37600 block of Barrinson Street, where they found weapons and a vehicle. A standoff ensued, after which officers arrested him. Prosecutors charged him on September 20, 2023.
Salazar pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. During the trial, Salazar’s mother, Marle, testified that her son had struggled with mental health issues in the past.
In the second phase of the trial, defense attorney George Rosenstock called three doctors as expert witnesses. They testified that, based on their examination of Salazar and his medical records, they considered him legally insane at the time of the crime. Deputy District Attorneys Michael Blake and David Ayvazian cross-examined the doctors. In the process, they argued that the experts used the wrong legal standard to conclude insanity, as that is not a standard used in California.
Salazar’s sentencing hearing will occur in Department 101 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center on October 1. He faces a potential sentence of life in a California state prison without parole.
LASD investigated the case, and the District Attorney’s Crimes Against Peace Officers Division prosecuted it.
In March 2015, the late deputy joined the LASD after completing a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge. In January 2026, the Castaic Sports Complex was renamed the Ryan M. Clinkunbroomer Castaic Sports Complex in his honor. He represented the fourth generation of his family to serve Los Angeles County as a law enforcement officer. His great-grandfather was a Los Angeles County Sheriff in 1937; his grandfather and father served in the LASD; and his brother is a deputy in the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
Canyon News reached out to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for comment. It was told that Deputy Clinkunbroomer was shot once behind the ear, which killed him instantly. Canyon News also learned that in their examination of Salazar, the defense expert witnesses used the standard that he was mentally impaired, which prevented him from understanding that his actions were morally wrong. In California, the correct legal standard is that a defendant must be incapable of understanding. When the defense questioned them again after the prosecutor’s cross-examination, they argued that “impaired” and “incapable” meant the same thing.
