June 11, 2019 – In Breaking News – Los Angeles Times
A Utah man has been arrested in connection with the shooting of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy Monday night, and may have been involved in a killing hours earlier in Los Angeles, officials said Tuesday.
Rhett McKenzie Nelson, 30, of St. George, Utah, was detained in Long Beach shortly after he called his father from a church and referred to “committing murder,” according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide Capt. Kent Wegener.
#LASD Homicide Detectives Need Your Help Identifying & Locating Attempted Murder Suspect – https://t.co/d3Mdsy2rae pic.twitter.com/Qw65f29hwN
— LA County Sheriff’s (@LASDHQ) June 11, 2019
Officers stopped the vehicle and detained the driver in the 2400 block of Granada Avenue in Long Beach, police said.
The deputy was identified Tuesday as Joseph Solano, a 13-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, who was off-duty and waiting for his meal at the Jack in the Box on Valley Boulevard in Alhambra about 5:45 p.m.
Monday when he was shot once in the head.
He was taken to L.A. County-USC Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Whomever carried out this cowardly attack, we won’t rest until we find you and ensure justice is brought swiftly upon you,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva wrote on Twitter late Monday.
If you missed the live conference, you can view it at the following link https://t.co/9x9FLUYT49
— LA County Sheriff’s (@LASDHQ) June 11, 2019
Villanueva said Tuesday that the deputy remained in “grave condition” and on life support.
“This is the part of this job that I don’t relish and always dreaded,” the sheriff said.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday that Nelson may be linked to a killing that took place sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. in Los Angeles on Monday, just hours before Solano was shot.
Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to establish a $50,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest.
The Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the union that represents rank-and-file deputies, also pledged $50,000 of its funds toward a reward for information in the case, said the organization’s president, Det. Ron Hernandez.
(A manhunt continues for a suspect who shot an off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy in the back of the head at a Jack in the Box in Alhambra Monday night, leaving him in critical condition. Courtesy of CBS Los Angeles and YouTube. Posted on June 11, 2019.)
Continue reading… Utah man arrested in shooting of L.A. sheriff’s deputy linked to homicide hours earlier
Editor’s note: Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Deputy Solano, both blood and blue. Thank you for your bravery in serving the citizens of Los Angeles County with pride and distinction. You will not be forgotten.
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