LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latest on the arrest of a Utah man accused of shooting an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and killing another man (all times local):
6:10 p.m.
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was shot in the head while off duty in a fast-food restaurant has died.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva says 50-year-old Joseph Gilbert Solano died Wednesday afternoon, two days after a gunman shot him at a Jack in the Box in suburban Alhambra.
The deputy’s son and other family members were at the news conference.
Authorities say Solano wasn’t in uniform at the time he was shot and the gunman apparently didn’t know him.
A 30-year-old Utah man, Rhett Nelson, has been arrested.
Authorities also call him a suspect in the random killing of another man in Los Angeles an hour before the shooting. And they say Nelson’s also suspected of being a gunman who robbed five convenience stores in San Diego County a few days ago.
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4:50 p.m.
Police in San Diego County are investigating whether the man who allegedly shot an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and killed another man an hour earlier may have also committed five armed robberies there earlier this month.
Police say they are investigating the robberies and their “association” with Rhett Nelson.
Authorities say the suspect in the robberies wielded a handgun and demanded money at five convenience stores over three days.
Los Angeles officials say Nelson shot Deputy Joseph Gilbert Solano in the head Monday after fatally shooting a 30-year-old man in attacks that both appear to be random. Solano remains in grave condition.
Utah police say Nelson left his home there with a gun but his family did not believe he was a danger to himself or anyone else.
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2:35 p.m.
Utah police say the man accused of shooting an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and killing another man an hour earlier had told his family he wanted to “make it on his own or die.”
St. George Police Capt. Mike Giles says Rhett Nelson’s family contacted authorities on May 27 and said he’d left their Utah home with a gun but they did not think he was suicidal or a danger to anyone else.
Police say Nelson shot Deputy Joseph Gilbert Solano in the head Monday after fatally shooting a 30-year-old man in attacks that both appear to be random. Solano remains in grave condition.
Giles says no recent crimes involving Nelson have been reported to St. George police.
Los Angeles investigators are seeking potential victims because they believe he may have been involved in other incidents in California.
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