Slain San Diego Police Officer to Be Laid to Rest

SAN DIEGO, CA — Law enforcement from San Diego and across the nation are mourning together this week during several memorial services for slain San Diego police Officer Jonathan "JD" DeGuzman.

Functions to remember the fallen officer began Tuesday at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Bonita, where a prayer of the Rosary was followed by viewing. His family members were joined by a large contingent of law enforcement Thursday morning at the Bonita church for a funeral mass.

DeGuzman, a 43-year-old gang unit officer, was shot dead during a pedestrian stop July 28 in the Southcrest area of San Diego. DeGuzman's partner, 32-year-old Wade Irwin, was critically wounded in the shooting but is recovering from his injuries.

The service Thursday was closed to media outlets. San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman, who worked at the same station with DeGuzman when she was a lieutenant, reportedly gave a eulogy during the Mass.

"The DeGuzman family appreciates the efforts of the media to share the life and heroism of their son, husband and father but requests all media remain outside while the funeral Mass is performed,'' according to a statement from the San Diego Police Officers Association.

Following a public memorial service Friday open to law enforcement and community members at 11 a.m. at Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, DeGuzman, a 16-year SDPD veteran, husband and father of two young children, will be laid to rest at Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita.

"The interment following the memorial service is a closed ceremony for the family and select SDPD members," San Diego police Lt. Scott Wahl said. "The family has asked the media respect their privacy during this time. Their primary request is that the privacy of the family, friends and fellow officers while they mourn be respected."

The first of the two ceremonial motorcades Friday for DeGuzman will begin about 9 a.m. and necessitate a closure of eastbound Interstate 8 from I-15 to Greenfield Drive in El Cajon, where the midday memorial ceremony is planned.

The second will require a shutdown of westbound I-8 from Greenfield Drive to southbound state Route 125 to westbound SR-54 into Bonita for about an hour, beginning around 1 p.m., according to Caltrans.

Freeway connectors and onramps along the freeways also will be closed until the processions have passed. Delays are expected to last between 15 and 30 minutes. Signs will be posted at various highway locations to alert motorists to alternate routes, Caltrans advised.

The SDPOA has established a fund for DeGuzman’s family and said all donations will go directly to his family. Donations can be mailed to: San Diego Police Officers Association, 8388 Vickers Street, San Diego, CA 92111, with checks can made payable to the San Diego Police Officers Association and "Officer Jonathan DeGuzman" written in the memo line. The SDPOA is also accepting online donations. Online donors should indicate "Officer Jonathan DeGuzman" in the notes section.

Those wishing to contribute to Irwin's recovery fund can do so on Gofundme. Irwin, a 9-year SDPD veteran, is married and the father of a young child.

San Diego police have named a suspect in the shooting, Jesse Michael Gomez, 52, who was arraigned this week in his hospital bed at UCSD Medical Center on charges of murder, attempted murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Gomez, who is recovering from critical gunshot wounds suffered the night of the attack, was ordered held on $5 million bail. A suspected motive for the shooting has not been disclosed by police.

— City News Service contributed to this report; Photos by San Diego Police Department and Alexander Nguyen, Patch staff