Cop Sought in Fatal Shooting Southwest of Diamond Bar Fired From LAPD

                                        Photo: screenshot of victim Salome Rodriguez Jr.)

A probationary Los Angeles police officer being sought for a fatal shooting in Pomona was fired Tuesday from the LAPD, according to Chief Charlie Beck, who urged the fugitive to surrender.
Henry Solis, a 27-year-old rookie, has “dishonored” the LAPD, Beck said.
“The mere fact that he is not cooperating with the Pomona Police Department and he has not shown up for work is sufficient to terminate,” Beck said at a morning news conference.
“Of course, if he was a tenured employee then we would have to go through the civil service process as described in the law for a termination, but this is one of those instances where I could take immediate action, so I will,” Beck said.
Beck made good on his word by late afternoon, announcing that Solis had been fired.
At his morning news conference, Beck gave a message for Solis: “You have dishonored this police department, your country and your service to the country and your family. You should turn yourself in and face the consequences for your action.”
Solis was hired last June and has been out in the field in the San Fernando Valley’s Devonshire Division since November. He was in the Marine Corps before joining the police department.
Looking at his background, there are “no obvious indications that he had a propensity for this,” Beck said, adding that Pomona police say they have a “strong case and they have a warrant for his arrest.”
Until the warrant was issued Monday, Pomona police had identified Solis as a “person of interest” in the homicide investigation. They said yesterday that he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”
Solis is wanted in the shooting of Salome Rodriguez Jr., 23, who was gunned down near Third and Main streets in Pomona around 3:30 a.m. last Friday following a fistfight at a nearby bar. He died at a hospital.
On Sunday afternoon, police recovered Solis’ Volkswagen Jetta near the intersection of Main Street and Monterey Avenue, about four blocks from the shooting scene.
Police say Solis may currently be driving a brown or tan 1992 Ford pickup truck, license number 4J79703.
Solis, whose last known address was in Pomona, is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 185 pounds.

Anyone with information about Solis’ whereabouts was asked to call the Pomona police detective bureau at (909) 620-2085, or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

• By City News Service