Palm Springs Officers Shot: 2 Officers Killed, 3rd Wounded Responding to Domestic Disturbance; Suspect in Custody

PALM SPRINGS, CA - Two Palm Springs police officers were shot to death and a third was wounded Saturday afternoon as they responded to a domestic call about a troubled man.

The two officers were shot to death near Cypress and Del Lago Roads, Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes confirmed. One of the officers was a new mom and the other was due to retire in a few months. As night fell Saturday night in the normally-quiet neighborhood, a house in the 2700 block of Cypress Road remained surrounded by police and the neighborhood was cordoned off. Three police helicopters were spotted circling overhead for hours.

The suspect, identified as 26-year-old John Felix, of Palm Springs, surrendered peacefully after a lengthy standoff. He received non-life threatening injuries during the incident and was treated at a local hospital. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office did not name the officers involved in the standoff that left Felix injured but said they have been placed on administrative leave per department policy. Felix will be booked on two counts of murder of a peace officer.

UPDATE: Alleged Palm Springs Cop Killer Arrested, Identified After Standoff

"I'm awake in a nightmare right now," a teary-eyed chief told reporters at a press conference Saturday afternoon. "Today Palm Springs lost two brave officers. They go out every day and put their boots on the ground for this community.

"They gave it all for you."

One of the slain officers was a 35-year veteran of the department due to retire in December. Officer Jose Gil Vega, 63, was married and had eight children. He was scheduled to be off Saturday but picked up an overtime shift. Also slain was Lesley Zerebny, 27, who recently returned to duty from maternity leave. She has a 4-month-old child and was on the force for one and a half years. She's married to a Riverside County deputy.

"He'd already submitted his paperwork to retire," Reyes said. "She'd just returned to work after giving birth to her baby daughter four months ago."

The third officer who was shot is in a local hospital and is "alert and doing well," according to Chief Reyes, who would not divulge the extent of the officer's injuries.

Police said a woman called 911 to report that her adult son was causing a disturbance at a home in the 2700 block of Cypress Road. The officers were dispatched at 12:18 p.m. Reyes said the young man threatened to shoot officers through the front door. The officers were standing outside the door and were attempting to talk with the man when the shots were fired.

After the first two officers arrived on the scene, a request for emergency assistance was radioed in.

"I was here in front of my house, and I hear some shooting," John Gracieano, who lives about a block from the incident, told Patch Saturday night. "I thought it was something like firecrackers... I never hear that kind of shooting before, only on TV.

"... Later, when the shooting stopped, I saw cops driving backwards with somebody in the trunk. I think it was the lady, the officer. Then two cops took the lady off the trunk, and put her on the ground. And then they started giving her CPR. And then the ambulance came by and took her away."

The Riverside County Sheriff's Office had tactical command of the scene. Residents were asked to stay indoors. Witnesses in the neighborhood reported hearing machine-gun fire and said they heard as many as 20 shots. Police in tactical gear swarmed the area, and police said a "code red alert" was issued for the neighborhood. Some homes were evacuated. According to the sheriff's office, Felix refused to surrender and exchanged gunfire with officers as he barricaded himself in his residence.

"We are actively looking for a cop murderer," the chief said Saturday, asking that local news media and residents refrain from livestreaming video on social media of the movements of tactical officers in the neighborhood. "Those livestreams are unnecessary and it puts (the officers) in danger."

Reporters asked about the history of calls to the residence, but Chief Reyes and the Riverside County Sheriff's Office spokesman both said that information will not be revealed at this time.

"I knew [the suspected shooter and family], nice people," Gracieano told Patch. "I can't believe that happened here, in this neighborhood."

The suspect was believed to still be in the house Saturday night, but police also searched the neighborhood. Chief Reyes said it's possible the suspect left and could be outside the growing containment area set up by police.

A police armored vehicle was on the scene. Police from several jurisdictions are assisting. A police spokesman said police are confident only one shooter is involved.

"All of a sudden, all hell broke loose," Bill Buxton told reporters, according to a Press-Enterprise report. "Every siren you can imagine, for 30 minutes straight."

The Desert Sun interviewed a neighbor who said he spoke with the father of the suspected shooter. The neighbor told the newspaper he called police because the father said his son, who has mental problems, wanted to shoot police. The father asked the neighbor for help.

A woman who came with her daughter to the memorial outside the Palm Springs police station told Patch that Officer Vega had helped her, and after she heard he had been shot she wanted to pay her respects.

"If there's ever a time to pray for the Palm Springs police, the time is now," Reyes said, adding that he needs the community's help now more than ever. "My employees are broken."

Asked to share some thoughts about the slain officers, Reyes reflected on how dedicated they were to their community and their job.

Reyes said Zerebny, as a young trainee, apprehended a murder suspect during a pedestrian stop of a suspicious person. Reyes described an incident last week in which a woman behaving bizarrely in a grocery store faced off with Officer Zerebny and began "a full-on fistfight." Zerebny was joined by community members in subduing the woman.

"Here you have a wonderful, young, dedicated female officer that pressed forward every day to make it better for everybody else," the chief said.

Officer Vega, Reyes said, could have retired five years ago.

"Here he is 35 years in still pushing a patrol car ... on a day he wasn't even scheduled to work," Reyes said, commenting on Vega's dedication to his community.

This week in California, Officers Vega and Zerebny were the second and third police officers to lose their lives in the line of duty. On Wednesday, a Los Angeles sheriff's deputy was shot and killed in Lancaster.

— Reporting by Renee Schiavone

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