LA Sheriff's say carjacker who sparked a huge SWAT response before his arrest is NOT the Compton gunman - despite fevered speculation during standoff

The LA County Sheriff's Department has insisted a huge SWAT response and armed standoff with a carjacker was not related to the ambush of deputies in Compton over the weekend - despite huge speculation it was - as tensions continue to mount across the city.

Deonte Murray, 36, was arrested Tuesday over an alleged carjacking that resulted in a high speed police chase and the suspect holing up in a trash bin at the back of an apartment building in Lynwood, authorities said late Tuesday.  

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said there is no known connection between Murray and the gunman who shot two deputies in the head at the weekend, after conflicting reports from law enforcement sources and a massive police presence including helicopters, bomb squads and K-9 units drafted in to hunt for the suspect. 

Two officers - 31-year-old Claudia Apolinar and her 24-year-old male colleague – were shot multiple times as they sat inside their patrol car outside the Metro Blue Line station at Willowbrook Avenue and Oak Street Saturday night. 

Shocking surveillance footage captured the moment the black male suspect strolled up to the police cruiser and gunned the officers down at close range before fleeing the scene on foot.

Both officers survived and are said to be in a stable condition in hospital while a massive manhunt is underway for the gunman, who authorities said is between the ages of 28 and 30. 

The LA County Sheriff's Department has insisted a huge SWAT response and armed standoff with a carjacker was not related to the ambush of deputies in Compton at the weekend - despite huge speculation it was - as tensions continue to mount across the city. Pictured the scene of the standoff 

An armed carjacker led cops on a high speed chase through the Lynwood area of Compton Tuesday in what was thought to be connected to the ambush on LA deputies

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The sheriff's department confirmed around 10 p.m. local time the carjacking suspect was taken into custody but said there was no link between the individual and Saturday's ambush.  

'At this time there is no information that would lead us to believe that he is involved in the shooting of our deputies,' a department official said. 

LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva had repeatedly denied any connection between the carjacking suspect and the gunman throughout Tuesday as the standoff rumbled on for around eight hours and residents were evacuated from the area.

Villanueva, who challenged LeBron James to match a reward to find the gunman responsible for shooting the two deputies earlier this week, told several media outlets the two incidents were unrelated and the search was for a carjacker.

However he provided no further details about the carjacker and there was a massive police presence in the area, including a bomb squad and two sheriff's helicopters.  

Several law enforcement sources gave conflicting reports to NBC Los Angeles saying authorities were increasingly confident the suspected carjacker was connected to Saturday's attack.  

They told the outlet the male suspect was wanted in connection with the weekend ambush but that the sheriff's department was not yet ready to provide details to the public. 

Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez told City News Service she could not confirm whether the suspect was connected to the attack on her colleagues but also did not rule out a connection.

'At this time, it's just a carjacking suspect, but it's really important that we apprehend him and ID him to see if there's any nexus with the ambush,' she said. 

Aerial footage showed multiple police cars continued to be on the scene as darkness fell, while the suspect's vehicle could be seen abandoned in the road

A huge search was underway in Lynwood for several hours for the armed suspect who was allegedly driving a light blue Toyota coupe and led cops on a chase

Deonte Murray, 36, was arrested Tuesday over an alleged carjacking that resulted in a high speed police chase and the suspect holing up around some homes in Lynwood, authorities said late Tuesday

A huge manhunt was launched in Lynwood for the armed suspect who was allegedly driving a light blue Toyota coupe through the residential area. 

LA County Sheriff's Department deputies were in hot pursuit of the vehicle, which the driver then crashed along the 3100 block of Carlin Avenue.

Police sources said the driver fled from the vehicle into a nearby home or condo. 

Officers evacuated people out of the area as the SWAT team prepared to search nearby homes for the suspect.  

Aerial footage showed multiple police cars continued to be on the scene as darkness fell, while the suspect's vehicle could be seen abandoned in the road.  

Authorities said in a press conference around 10 p.m. local time that Murray, of no known address, had been arrested over the incident.

They said Murray had been wanted in connection to a carjacking on September 1 where a 51-year-old man was shot in the leg with a rifle.  

Murray was identified as the suspect and located in the Toyota Tuesday before he fled. 

Officials said they finally located him in a trash bin behind an apartment with the help of K-9 unit.

They said the huge search was because they suspected Murray to be armed with the high-powered rifle used in the September 1 shooting and not because of any connection to Saturday's incident.  

LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva repeatedly denied any connection between the carjacking suspect and the gunman but provided no further details about the carjacker

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said there is no known connection between Murray and the gunman who shot two deputies in the head at the weekend. SWAT teams search homes in the area Tuesday 

The massive manhunt for the alleged carjacker comes as police continue their search for two main suspects involved in Saturday's ambush - the gunman and a suspected getaway driver who was seen driving the gunman away from the scene in a dark Mercedes.  

The investigation has so far focused on two prominent Compton street gangs, sources said. 

It was previously suggested that the shooting was a revenge attack for one of the spate of recent deaths of black men and women at the hands of cops across America.  

Apolinar, a mother of a six-year-old, and her colleague each sustained multiple gunshot wounds in Saturday's attack. 

The two cops - who both graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy last year - both underwent surgery and are now in a stable condition. 

Video released by cops showed the suspect approaching an LACSD vehicle parked outside the Metro Blue Line station and opening fire before he fled.

Despite taking multiple bullets – one to the face and several to her upper torso – Apolinar managed to get her partner to safety, apply a tourniquet and radio for help.

A photo of the aftermath of the attack shows Apolinar covered in blood, giving medical help to her injured partner who was also struck in the head.  

Video released by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department shows the moment that the male suspect opened fire on two deputies at a Compton bus station before fleeing on foot

FOX11 obtained a photo of the female deputy, who was described as a 31-year-old mother of a six-year-old boy, covered in blood after she was shot in the jaw helping her colleague in the Saturday shooting

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A harrowing dispatch call reveals a shaky voice called in the shooting, muttering: '998 Compton Pax.' 

Recognizing the code for a deputy-involved shooting, a dispatcher asks: 'Just happened?' 

The voice replies, almost unintelligibly, 'Compton Pax, deputies down. Compton Pax 998.'

The suspect, meanwhile, is described as a black male between 28 and 30 years old. 

He was wearing dark clothing at the time of the shooting and was last seen in a black four-door sedan.

Fox News reporter William la Jeunesse said Monday: 'Los Angeles police will not say this publicly - but some believe this ambush was retaliation for some recent police shootings of black suspects in LA.'

On August 31 black man Dijon Kizzee was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies after he was stopped for a traffic violation while riding a bike. 

Claudia Apolinar, 31, was identified as one of the gunned down officers. She graduated from the Police Academy last year

At the beginning of this month the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also voted to ask the coroner to conduct an inquest into the fatal deputy shooting of 18-year-old Andres Guardado on June 18.  

Thousands have taken to the streets demanding justice and calling for an end to police brutality and racism since May following the 'murder' of black man George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he passed out and died.  

Floyd's death reignited outrage over the death of EMT Breonna Taylor, 26, who was shot eight times while sleeping in her bed when three plain clothes officers performed a no-knock arrest warrant at her Louisville apartment on March 13. 

In June, unarmed father Rayshard Brooks was shot dead while he ran away from cops in the drive-thru of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta.  

On August 23, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a white cop in front of his three young children, leaving the father-of-six paralyzed from the waist down.      

A week later on August 30, Dijon Kizzee, 29, was gunned down in the street by LA cops who allegedly shot him 20 times and then handcuffed his dead body after trying to pull him over for an alleged bicycle code violation.   

In early September, footage was released by the family of Daniel Prude, 41, showing cops in Rochester, New York, putting a spit hood over his face and pushing his face into the ground for two minutes until he passed out and died on March 23.  

The Monroe County medical examiner listed the manner of death as homicide caused by 'complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint' but no charges have been brought against any of the cops.