After two LASD deputies were mercilessly shot in ambush, California city official responded by posting: 'Chickens come home to roost'

A public official in California posted "chickens come home to roost" on Instagram after the ambush shooting of two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in Compton Saturday evening.

Fox 11 reporter Bill Melugin took a screenshot of Lynwood city manager Jose Ometeotl's controversial post on his public profile, which has since been made private. In his post, Ometeotl wrote that "the shooting of anyone is a wholly unacceptable occurrence in society" and that while he does not "condone the type of violence seen in the shooting of deputies yesterday in Compton," he did lay some of the blame on the deputies.

"I will say that communities like Compton have been plagued by deputy gangs that inflict fear and violence in the community. These deputies murdered, framed and stole from the community just because they could," Ometeotl wrote.

The two deputies, one male and one female, were critically injured by the shooter but are now reported to be out of surgery. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said Sunday that both officers appear to be making a recovery. "We'll see what the long-term impact is. We don't know that yet, but they survived the worst," Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. The female deputy is the 31-year-old mother of a 6-year-old boy and the male is 24 years old. According to the Sheriff's Department, both officers were sworn in just 14 months ago.

There is no evidence that either injured officer "murdered, framed and stole" from the community they serve. The phrase "deputy gangs" mentioned in Ometeotl's post appears to be a reference to a July 2020 report from the Los Angeles Times about an alleged gang of deputies at the L.A County Sheriff's Department called the "Executioners." Two deputies have made legal claims against the department, with Deputy Thomas Banuelos alleging "bullying and intimidation" by members of this gang and Deputy Art Gonzalez saying he received threats after making a confidential tip about the alleged assault of a fellow deputy by the gang. In August, Sheriff Villaneuva created a department policy to ban gangs or secret societies.

Following Ometeotl's post, the city of Lynwood released a statement saying his comments are "personal opinions" that "don't reflect the position of the Lynwood City Council."

"Today, we are only thinking of the two deputies and are praying for their recovery," the statement reads.