A 36-year-old man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder in the ambush shooting of two Compton police officers earlier this month, according to the Daily Mail.
Deonte Lee Murray was charged with two counts—willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of a police officer and possession of a firearm by a felon after he allegedly walked up to the officer’s cruiser and shot them in the head back on September 12.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced in a press conference Wednesday morning that the suspect was in police custody and will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
The Daily Mail reported:
Two officers – 31-year-old Claudia Apolinar and her 24-year-old male colleague – were shot multiple times as they sat inside their patrol car outside the Metro Blue Line station at Willowbrook Avenue and Oak Street.
Murray was arrested back on September 15 following a huge armed standoff and SWAT team presence for an alleged carjacking where a 51-year-old man was shot in the leg.
Authorities at the time denied his arrest was in connection to the Compton ambush of the two cops despite several law enforcement sources saying it was.
Murray, a convicted felon, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges.
Prosecutors recommended his bail be set at $6.15 million.
The suspect was arrested two weeks ago on September 15 in connection to the armed carjacking in Lynwood where a man, 51, was shot in the leg with a high-powered firearm.
Law enforcement followed Murray on a high-speed chase before the suspected holed up in a trash bin at the back of an apartment building.
Murray was charged on September 17 with one felony count each of carjacking, second-degree robbery, and assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department insisted in a news conference at the time that Murray’s arrest was not related to the shooting of the two officers in Compton.
Authorities said Murray’s arrest was on suspicion of a carjacking and that there was no known connection between him and the gunman who gunned down the two officers the weekend before despite the massive police presence including helicopters, bomb squads and K-9 units.
There were conflicting reports from law enforcement sources who told local media while the standoff was underway that it was connected to the cop shooting.
Sheriff’s homicide Capt. Kent Wegener said a pistol Murray discarded during the chase was the one used to shoot the two deputies.
Two cops were gunned down in Compton on September 12 amid escalating tensions between law enforcement and the American public.
Shocking surveillance footage captured the moment the black male suspect strolled up to the police cruiser and shot the officers at close range before fleeing the scene on foot.
Apolinar, a mother of a six-year-old boy, was shot in the jaw, while her partner was shot in the head. Despite her injuries, Apolinar was able to make a tourniquet to help her partner and radio for help.
Though both officers survived the attack and were quickly taken to the hospital, a massive manhunt got underway for the gunman.
Authorities said they were searching for a black man between the ages of 28 and 30. The 24-year-old male cop, who has not yet been identified, was discharged from the hospital just over a week after the attack. It was four days later that Apolinar was released from the hospital.
Both deputies were allegedly new to the department, having only been on the team for 14 months.