Prosecutors have charged a man on Wednesday with the attempted murder of the two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies an apparently unprovoked shooting as they sat in a squad car outside a rail station.
The Deputies both suffered from gunshot wounds to the head in the Sept. 12 ambush attack and have since been released from the hospital. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said their recoveries will be a long process and include further reconstructive surgeries.
The suspect who has been charged is 36-year-old Deonte Lee Murray, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges Wednesday during his arraignment. He faces life in state prison if he is convicted. Murray is being held in jail on $6.15 million bail and is due back in court in November.
According to BuzzFeed
A man was charged with attempted murder in the ambush shooting of two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies that was caught on surveillance video in Compton, California, more than two weeks ago.
Authorities on Wednesday announced the charges against Deonte Lee Murray, a 36-year-old Black man who had been arrested two weeks earlier in connection with a separate incident of armed carjacking.
Murray is a convicted felon with a criminal history and is affiliated with a number of gangs, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Capt. Kent Wegener said in a press conference.
Although authorities did not provide a motive for the shooting, they appeared to connect it to some of the rhetoric around law enforcement.
When asked whether authorities knew of a motive, Wegener said, "Other than the fact that [the suspect] hates policemen and wants them dead, not specifically."
Wegener did not provide details as to why law enforcement officials believe the suspect hates police officers. LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva later added, "It's a scary situation in the sense that people have such deep-seated hatred against law enforcement that they’re willing to just kill unprovoked."
