Suspect charged with attempted murder in ambush shooting of LA deputies
Los Angeles prosecutors have charged a 36-year-old man with attempted murder in the ambush shooting of two sheriff’s deputies.
Deonte Lee Murray was arrested in a separate carjacking case on Sept. 15 after a standoff with police in Lynwood — three days after the caught-on-video shooting of the two deputies, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
Murray, who is due in court Wednesday on the earlier carjacking and robbery charges, has now also been charged in the shocking police shooting in Compton, the outlet reported.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva called it “a cowardly act” on Wednesday.
“These acts and that day, I will not forget it, and it represents the worst in humanity, and it shocked the whole nation,” Villanueva said at a press conference. “And that evening I said we’ll find this man, and I can report today we have found our suspect.”
“That worst of humanity was followed by the best of humanity,” he said. “Our entire department rallied together.”
Murray was being held on $2 million bail in the carjacking case when police started receiving tips that he was the gunman in the deputies’ shooting, LA Sheriff Homicide Bureau Capt. Kent Wegener said.
Forensics tests then determined that a .40-caliber handgun Murray allegedly hurled from his car during a police chase was the weapon used in the Compton shooting, Wegener said.
The shocking Sept. 12 shooting left Deputy Claudia Apolinar, 31, and her unidentified 24-year-old partner critically wounded.
Apolinar, the mother of a 6-year-old boy, and her fellow officer were sitting in their squad car when a man wearing dark clothes walked up and fired at close range.
Apolinar, wounded in the face, managed to pull her partner out of the car, apply a tourniquet to his wounds and call for help.
Both deputies had only joined the force 14 months earlier. They survived the shooting but face months of therapy.
“They still face a lot of surgery, reconstructive surgery,” Villanueva said. “It’s going to be a lengthy process, but fortunately they’re doing okay.”
“Once they completely recover, yes, I expect them both back at work.”
“They became victims of a violent crime for one reason, they were doing their job and they were wearing a badge,” LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. “Now it’s our turn to seek justice on their behalf.”
Lacey said her office filed two counts of attempted murder charges against Murray on Wednesday morning. He faces life in prison if convicted.