Suspect Arrested in Ambush Shooting of Two Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies

An arrest has been made in the ambush shooting of two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies earlier this month.

Authorities have charged 36-year old Deonte Lee Murray of Compton with two counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon for his alleged shooting of two law enforcement officers on September 12th.

Murray had already been arrested and charged on September 17th in connection to alleged carjacking, second-degree robbery and assault with a semi-automatic firearm. He was suspected in the shooting of the two deputies(both of whom survived) when authorities learned the car he’s accused of stealing was nearby the scene of the ambush shooting, in which Murray allegedly walked up to two deputies sitting in a squad car and shot them both in the head.

This repeat felon supposedly has gang connections. He’s being held on a $6 million bond at Los Angeles’ Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has described Murray as “hating police and wanting them dead” as a potential motive in the shooting.

“We knew that he was a violent offender, was accused of stealing a black Mercedes-Benz and lived in the area. However, there was insufficient evidence to support an arrest, much less a criminal filing for the charge of attempted murder on a peace officer and to label him in the media as the person responsible,” the sheriff’s homicide captain said.

“Additionally, bringing the public focus on him at that point of the investigation may have influenced the pending witness interviews and further compromised the mission of solving the attempted murder of the deputies,” he said. “As the investigation progressed, we gathered sufficient evidence to substantiate not only the arrest but the filing of criminal charges in this case.”

One man was seen laughing and joking minutes after the heinous ambush shooting was carried out on the deputies.