Palm Springs reacts to officers killed in the line of duty

“I am awake in a nightmare right now,” said Chief Bryan Reyes of the Palm Springs Police Department. A somber day for the City of Palm Springs after two officers were shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute on the 2700 block of Cypress Avenue.
The two officers killed are Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny of the Palm Springs Police Department. Chief Bryan Reyes was emotional as he described the fallen officers. “Officer Gil Vega is a 35-year veteran of the Palm Springs Police Department, a patrol officer who was not scheduled to work today. He chose to work overtime today. He was scheduled to retire in December, already submitted his paperwork to retire. Officer Lesley Zerebny, one and a half years on the job, she just returned to work after giving birth to her baby daughter four months ago.” The community gathered at the Palm Springs Police Memorial; where people left flowers, candles, and thoughtful messages. “No one deserves this but especially them, they don’t deserve this. They’re in heaven right now and I know that for sure and they’re still watching over us. But our hearts go out to the families so much, god bless them, and whatever we can do please let the community know because we will all gather,” said Francesca, a Palm Springs resident, who was at the memorial. Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon wants to see change for law enforcement. “We have to do something about this. You know our police officers are here to protect all of us, Black, White, Latino, Asian, everyone, and we really need to look out for our police officers and protect our police officers,” said Moon. Tonight Reyes asks for the community’s continuous support during this tragic time. “My employees are broken, and if there’s ever a time to pray for palm springs police, its now.”