The man accused of fatally shooting a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy had a troubling history of mental illness — but repeatedly refused help and was still able to legally purchase a gun, according to his family.
Kevin Cataneo Salazar’s mother, Marle, said she has repeatedly tried to get help for her 29-year-old son in the five years since he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, saying he hears voices and has twice tried to kill himself.
“It wasn’t my son who did it, the disease did it,” the distraught mother told the Los Angeles Times after her son was arrested Monday for fatally shooting newly engaged Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer late Saturday.
“They put all this out there that my son killed someone, but no one said that my son was sick,” he told the newspaper in his native Spanish.
“They just said he was the one who shot the deputy, but no one said he had a record of needing mental help,” he said.
The suspect, Kevin Cataneo Salazar, 29, is a paranoid schizophrenic who committed suicide and has not taken medication for almost a year. KEYNEWS.TV
“I’ve called the police a few times … Eventually, they’ll say, ‘He’s an adult, so if he doesn’t want to take it [his medication]we can’t do anything,’” he said while blaming his son who had not taken medicine for about 10 months.
The suspect’s sister, Jessica Salazar, also told reporters that her brother had been placed under several 72-hour psychiatric detentions, only to be released.
“Just know that we’re trying to help my brother,” he told KTLA.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was fatally shot while idling at the lights in his car Saturday night.X/Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
“We feel for [Clinkunbroomer’s] family. It hurts,” he said, saying he wished he could “just wake up and say it was all a dream.”
“Nobody wants to go through that, but I want you all to know that my brother has schizophrenia. He suffers from paranoia. He heard voices.”
Authorities have accused Cataneo Salazar of driving with Clinkunbroomer, a 30-year-old third-generation LASD officer, in his squad car before firing through the window and hitting him in the head Saturday night.
Cataneo Salazar is suspected of driving with the squad car and fatally shooting Clinkunbroomer through the window. The motive is still unclear. Fox 11
He was arrested Monday morning after locking himself inside when police showed up with a warrant for his arrest.
SWAT officers and hostage experts negotiated with Salazar for “several hours” before he finally surrendered when a chemical deterrent was fired into the home, LA Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference following Cataneo Salazar’s arrest.
“Our deputy minister gave this suspect a chance to surrender peacefully. That is not the right that was given to our deputies three days ago here on the street,” said Luna.
Investigators are “very confident we have the right person in custody,” Luna said, noting that community tips are important in identifying the suspect — though his motive remains unclear.
Several weapons were also recovered from the Salazar family home.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said investigators are “very confident we have the right person in custody.”
His mother said she did not know her son had any guns, but was told by police that they had been purchased legally – even though he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had suffered from a mental disorder.
Salazar would complain of hearing voices, and would tell loved ones that he was being followed, his family said.
Sometimes, his mother said, he would get so angry that he would cover his hands, scream or put his head in a trash can to drown out the sound.
“We would ask him what he would hear, and he would become hysterical,” Marle Salazar recounted.
After such an episode, he would start acting like a toddler and ask to be hugged — or start to become aggressive and refuse to take his medication, she said.
Crowds gathered for a vigil for Clinkunbroomer at the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station on Sunday.AP
It’s still unclear why she might have shot Clinkunbroomer, who was just engaged, but Marle blames her illness.
“My son is mentally ill, and if he does something, he is not in his full mental capacity,” she insisted.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
