nd not guilty by reason of insanity in connection with the killing. An attorney for Salazar said in his opening statement that the trial would not focus on whether his client fire the shot, but whether the defendant was insane at the time.

Salazar's attorney argued that his client wasn't targeting law enforcement officers. Defense attorney George Rosenstock argued his client's thoughts appear to be  somewhat disorganized  and that the decision to kill was made within seconds. He argued that the panel should reject the allegations of premeditated and deliberated murder and lying in wait.

Both Ayvazian and Rosenstock described the defendant's apparently irrational behavior on the day of the killing and two days earlier when he was  driving around confronting complete strangers,  the defense lawyer said.

Ayvazian told jurors that following his arrest, Salazar told two undercover operatives in jail during a surreptitiously recorded conversation that he had wanted to kill a police officer for years and described following officers, parking and waiting and playing music to prepare himself.

At a June 2024 hearing in which Salazar was ordered to stand trial, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Detective Gustavo Carrillo testified that Salazar acknowledged his involvement in the shooting during questioning at the Palmdale sheriff's station by detectives two days after the killing. Salazar told investigators that he felt bad and  cried for the (expletive) officer,  according to the detective.

Under cross-examination by Salazar's attorney at the preliminary hearing, the detective acknowledged that when asked why he had shot the deputy, Salazar responded that it had  started a long time ago before COVID  and that he  began to hear voices in his head. 

A deputy medical examiner concluded Clinkunbroomer died from a single gunshot that entered the back of his head.

After the shooting, investigators used surveillance video footage to identify a vehicle believed to be a Toyota Corolla and then to ask the public to come forward with any information about the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Ayvazian said that among those who contacted investigators was a driver who testified that he took a photo of the license plate of a vehicle whose driver had aggressively confronted him about seven minutes before authorities believe Clinkunbroomer was shot. The driver identified Salazar in court during the 2024 hearing as the person who confronted him.

The deputy was honored in January with the Castaic Sports Complex being renamed the Ryan M. Clinkunbroomer Castaic Sports Complex. A stretch of road also will be named after him.