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Who is Claudia Apolinar? LA cop mom who saved partner's life in Compton ambush by gunman is a former librarian

The female deputy's 65-year-old father Adolfo confirmed she was in a stable condition and an LA Sheriff’s Department deputy stood guard outside her room
PUBLISHED SEP 15, 2020
(Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department)
(Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department)

It has emerged that one of the Los Angeles deputies ambushed and gunned down on Saturday is a 31-year-old mother who graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy just last year.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Claudia Apolinar’s 65-year-old father Adolfo confirmed she was in a stable condition and that he held a bedside vigil for her in hospital as an LA Sheriff’s Department deputy stood guard outside the room. "I’m here with her right now," he told the outlet in Spanish.

Claudia and her 24-year-old male colleague, who is yet to be identified, were ambushed as they sat in their patrol vehicle Saturday night. A man appeared out of nowhere and was caught on surveillance cameras as he opened fire at point-blank range. Claudia, 31, somehow managed to get her partner to safety despite taking multiple bullets, one to the face and several to her upper torso. She even applied a tourniquet on his wounds and radioed for help.



 



 

The mother of a six-year-old child, Claudia is seen in a photo of the aftermath of the attack drenched in blood while giving medical aid to her partner. Meanwhile, the suspect is still at large, with the LA Sheriff’s Department offering $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Speaking to Daily Mail, lead investigating officer Lt Brandon Dean said both officers are in stable condition in hospital. "By the grace of God, they’re both going to pull through. They’re obviously pretty injured and it’s going to be life-altering but they’re in stable condition," he said, before applauding their "will to survive, their will to protect each other, their will to protect the public."

"They didn’t give up, they didn’t cower down," Dean continued. "They got out and took care of each other, took cover, made sure it wasn’t an active shooter situation. You’ve got to praise them for their courage and ability to fight for their lives and everybody else’s lives."

"It’s an extreme situation," he explained to the British newspaper. "She was shot in the face, shot in the upper torso several times. To have the wherewithal to get yourself out of the vehicle and the line of fire in case it continues, but then to take care of your partner, initiate radio traffic make sure the civilians in the area are safe, it shows a lot about her courage and intestinal fortitude." Claudia is a rookie officer, per government pay records. According to Daily Mail, Claudia worked as an aide in LA county libraries from 2011 before she applied for the Sheriff’s Department in 2017. The outlet obtained a graduation ceremony video posted by the department last year, showing Claudia receiving her police academy certificate. It has also been suggested that the ambush may have been a revenge attack against recent police shootings involving black men in Los Angeles.

President Donald J. Trump said on Sunday that the suspect should face a "fast trial death penalty" if the officers die. "If you murder a police officer, you should receive the death penalty," he suggested at a rally in Nevada Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also denounced the attack. "This cold-blooded shooting is unconscionable and the perpetrator must be brought to justice. Violence of any kind is wrong; those who commit it should be caught and punished. Jill and I are keeping the deputies and their loved ones in our hearts and praying for a full recovery," he tweeted.



 

However, the president of a Massachusetts chapter of the NAACP raised eyebrows after declaring there is "no such thing as blue lives."

"There's no such thing as BLUE LIVES..." Bishop Talbert Swan, a Pentecostal preacher from Springfield, Massachusetts, tweeted. "Stop comparing your JOB with my LIFE... Your CAREER is a choice, my BLACKNESS isn't. #BlackLivesMatter #BlueLivesMatter."



 

That said, investigators are yet to establish a motive for the shooting, which they say took place "without warning or provocation."

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