The young officer had just returned to the police force after maternity leave. The older one was two months short of retirement. Both Southern California officers were fatally shot over the weekend, allegedly by a gang member “acting crazy” and intending to shoot police, according to his father.
(FOX)- Palm Springs police Chief Bryan Reyes identified the officers slain Saturday as Jose “Gil” Gilbert Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27. A third officer was wounded after police responded to a domestic disturbance call.
The suspected gunman’s father told a neighbor his son was armed, “acting crazy” and wanted to shoot police.
John Felix, 26, was apprehended early Sunday after a lengthy standoff and will be charged this week with murder.
Felix finally emerged wearing soft body armor and carrying ammunition but no weapon after police shot a chemical agent into the home where he had holed up, officials said.
Vega had submitted his paperwork to retire at the end of the year after a long and decorated career, Reyes said.
“Here he is, 35 years in, still pushing a patrol car for our community to make it better — on a day he wasn’t even scheduled to work,” the chief said.
Reyes said Zerebny “pressed forward every day to make it better for everybody else.” She and her husband, a sheriff’s deputy, were new parents to a four-month-old baby.