A California father has been arrested for allegedly shooting dead the mother of his young son during a custody exchange at a local police station.

Police in California say Jacob Munn, 30, killed the 27-year-old mother of his child, Brenda Renteria, with a shotgun in front of the Hawthorne police headquarters on Sunday. Renteria died at the scene.

A relative of the victim, who witnessed the shooting, was seen breaking down crying in scene pictures as she was comforted by an officer.

Munn, who has a violent criminal history, initially fled but was arrested in Hawthorne later that night following a manhunt,

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Jacob Munn, 30 (left), has been charged with murder in the shooting death of the mother of his son, 27-year-old Brenda Renteria (right), during a custody exchange

Munn shared a photo of his son warning that he would 'never give up on you'

The couple's 17-month-old son (pictured in a photo shared on Facebook by his father a week ago) escaped unharmed

The couple’s 17-month-old son was present at the shooting but was not physically hurt. He was reportedly inside the police station at the time, reported KTLA.

‘I have 30 years with the department and I’ve never seen anything like this before,’ Lt. Scott Hoaglund said in a press conference on Sunday, according to KCAL. ‘Typically a police station is a safe place for people to make a child exchange and I would still recommend that people do that.’

A week before the tragedy, Munn posted on his Facebook page a photo of his son and wrote in the caption: 'No matter what i will never give up on you...#RoyalMunnFamily #Family1st #NothinbutLOVE.'

On the day of the killing, he posted a cryptic status update that consisted of a single word: '.SOLID.'

A relative of the victim, who witnessed the shooting, was seen breaking down crying in scene pictures as she was comforted by an officer

The suspect reportedly used a shotgun to kill his ex, after which he fled from the scene, sparking a manhunt

Two days prior, he posted on his page: '.STRONG.'

According to investigators, Renteria had gone to the police station on Hawthorne Boulevard to pick up her son from the child's father.

The mother had asked her family to come with her to the exchange because she feared Munn, KCAL reported.

Munn operates a moving business in Temecula. Pictured on the right is his son as a baby

On the day of the killing, he posted a cryptic status update that consisted of a single word: '.SOLID.'

Two days prior, Munn posted on his Facebook page: '.STRONG.'

While standing outside the lobby of the police headquarters, the parents began arguing.

At some point during the exchange, Munn allegedly produced a shotgun and fired on Renteria, killing her just steps away from the front door of the police station.

He then jumped back in his black Chevy pickup truck and sped off, police said.

The vehicle, with a small cross hanging off the rear-view mirror, was later found abandoned in a Denny’s parking lot half a mile south of the police station, but the suspect was nowhere to be found.

The man's abandoned pickup truck was found half a mile south of the police station (pictured)

Jacob Munn was found at 9pm Sunday not far from where his pickup truck was located

It took police about three hours to track down Munn, who was taken into custody in the 4400 block of 134th street in Hawthorne, not far from where his pickup truck was found, at around 9.15pm.

He is being held at the Los Angeles County Jail on $2million bail.

Munn has a prior criminal record that included an arrest in December 2017 on a charge of battery on a former companion

A relative of the slain mother told NBC Los Angeles she and the father of her son had decided to meet in Hawthorne because it was a middle ground between their respective places of residence.

'I do not know if there was a restraining order in place, or if this was just an agreed upon location for them to make the exchange,' Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Hoglund told reporters Sunday. 'I do not know if there were any court papers involved in this.'

Online records indicate that Munn has a prior criminal record that included an arrest in December 2017 on a charge of battery on a former companion.

DailyMail.com can now reveal that Munn is the owner of a moving business registered in Temecula, California, called Lionspaw Movers.

His business' website states that Munn has worked as a mover for the past eight years.

A call to a phone number associated with Munn's moving company went straight to voicemail Monday afternoon.