It’s hard to believe it’s only been 19 days since those 2 Sherriff’s deputies from Compton were ambushed and shot in the face while they sat quietly in their squad car, but the suspect has been nabbed.
The guy they are charging for the shooting was discovered to be in already in their custody, having been picked up just three days after the incident for an unrelated criminal allegation — a carjacking earlier in the month.
The suspect, identified as 36-year-old Deonte Lee Murray, is set to be arraigned Wednesday at the Compton courthouse on two counts each of attempted murder of a peace officer and possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with the Sept. 12 attack on the deputies.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said “we saw the worst of humanity — a cowardly act where a suspect ambushed and shot and attempted to kill two of our deputies.”
…The suspect had already been charged with one felony count each of carjacking, second-degree robbery and assault with a semi-automatic firearm — along with gang and gun allegations — involving a Sept. 1 carjacking in Compton, in which he allegedly shot a 51-year-old man in the leg with a high-powered rifle and stole his black Mercedes-Benz. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and has remained behind bars since his Sept. 15 arrest.
Murray, who authorities say is associated with multiple gangs, could face a potential life prison term if convicted of the charges, according to District Attorney Jackie Lacey. Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau Capt. Kent Wegener, who detailed the investigation, did not suggest a specific motive for the attack “other than the fact that he obviously hates policemen, and he wants them dead.” — ABC
Evidence connects him to both the carjacking and the attempted murder of the police.
Murray was arrested Sept. 15 following a 10-hour standoff. At around 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 15, detectives located Murray, but he fled in a 2006 Toyota Solara. During the pursuit, he threw a pistol from the car.
He then ditched the car in the 3100 block of Carlin Avenue in Lynwood and ran. Law enforcement officers swarmed the area. Several hours later, just before 10 p.m., Murray was found hiding in some bushes and was apprehended, Wagener said.
Meanwhile, the stolen Mercedes Benz was also found nearby.
Wegener said that ballistic and forensic evidence from the scene of the deputy ambush linked it to the ghost gun which Murray had thrown from the car during the chase.
“It was determined through ballistic comparison, that the pistol recovered was the pistol used to shoot the deputies, additionally that pistol was conclusively linked through forensic testing to suspect Deonte Murray,” Wagener said Wednesday.
Murray’s ghost gun was loaded with eight rounds when it was recovered, Wagener said, and the gun is capable of holding 13. There were five shots fired at the two deputies on the night of the ambush. — NewsLocker
Related…
Meet Claudia Apolinar, Heroic Deputy Who Helped Partner After Getting Shot In The Face (VIDEO)
Dispatch Audio And Photo Of Injured Deputies Put Human Faces On The Victims Of Cop Ambush
Video Captures Man Firing Shots At Two L.A. County Deputies In Unprovoked Attack
