2 officers dead, 1 hurt in Calif. shooting
Police were trying to resolve ‘simple family disturbance’
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Two Palm Springs police officers trying to resolve a family dispute were shot to death Saturday when a man they had been speaking calmly with suddenly pulled out a gun and opened fire on them, the city’s police chief told reporters.
A third officer was wounded.
The shooter was not immediately apprehended and was thought to be at the house where the officers were killed.
“It was a simple family disturbance, and he elected to open fire on the guardians of the city,” police Chief Bryan Reyes, his voice breaking, told reporters.
The chief identified the slain officers as Jose “Gil” Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny.
He did not disclose their ranks or other information or reveal the wounded officer’s name.
Although Reyes didn’t identify the shooting suspect, he indicated police had previous dealings with him.
Gerardo Barrera told The Desert Sun newspaper that he was working nearby when he heard gunshots.
“I saw a person on the ground,” he said. “Someone kept pumping her chest but she wasn’t moving.”
The shooting occurred just three days after a popular Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant was shot and killed in the high desert town of Lancaster.
Sgt. Steve Owen was answering a burglary call when sheriff’s officials say he was shot and wounded by a man who then stood over him and shot him four more times.
A paroled robber has been charged with murder.
Lancaster residents organized a candlelight memorial for Owen on Saturday night.