The funeral for slain Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was held Thursday morning.
Family, friends, colleagues, and other law enforcement personnel attended the mass for the 30-year-old at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
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Sheriff Robert Luna said Clinkunbroomer lived a life of service.
“We cannot allow Ryan’s sacrifice to be normalized just because he was wearing our uniform,” he said. “We cannot and will not excuse this murder. I ask that you please continue to support and advocate for our deputies and police officers who risk their physical and mental well-being to serve our communities every hour, every day .”
Deputy Zachary Gregg, Clinkunbroomer’s partner, remembered him as one of his favorite people.
“He was my best friend, and when I say he had all the answers, he had all the answers,” he said. "There wasn’t a day where I showed up to work where I wouldn’t see that beautiful bald head of his and say, ‘This is gonna be the day that we go at it. We’re gonna go to war together.’”
Deputy Zach Corrales promised to try to smile when he hears Clinkunbroomer’s name in the future.
“As I try to move forward when I hear his name or see his face, I'm going to try to smile,” he said. “So to you, Clink, when I think about you or when I hear your name I'm going to think about you walking into the station wearing your rainbow sandals, even if it's 40 degrees out. I'll smile when I think about you rubbing sunscreen on your bald head during summer. But most of all, I'm going to smile because you are my friend.”
Brittany Lindsey, Clinkunbroomer's fiancée, called him her “perfect man.”
“I don't know how I'm going to get by without you here, but I promise I'll be strong for you,” she said. “I love you with my whole heart and I miss you more than anybody will know. I'm heartbroken that our future got cut short. I know you would have been an amazing husband and father. Please watch over your brothers and sisters in blue. Give them the grace to carry on your legacy. I love you so much until I see you again.”
A private service was held at Forest Lawn in Glendale.
Clinkunbroomer was fatally shot while sitting in his patrol car in Palmdale on Sept. 16. Two days later, deputies arrested 29-year-old Kevin Salazar in connection to the deadly shooting. He was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
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