Hundreds gather at vigil for slain Palm Springs officers

The Coachella Valley continued to mourn the loss of two officers with the Palm Springs Police Department Sunday night. The officers were gunned down in the line of duty over the weekend.

Officer Jose Gilbert Vega, a 35-year-veteran who was set to retire in December, and Officer Lesley Zerebny, a 27-year-old with a four-month-old daughter, were both shot and killed Saturday afternoon after they responded to a domestic disturbance call on Cypress Avenue in Palm Springs.

A third officer was wounded. He has not been identified but was released from Desert Regional Medical Center Sunday.

A candlelight vigil was held at 5 p.m. outside the PSPD headquarters around the memorial that had grown overnight. Solemn but beautiful, the fragrance of flowers and scented candles filled the air.

“Come walk a beat on heaven’s street, you’ve done your time in hell,” recited Sgt. William Hutchinson to the crowd of more than 1,000 people who gathered to mourn.

Members of law enforcement, family of the slain officers and hundreds of civilians joined forces at the vigil where family members of Officer Vega took turns at the podium.

“I know he loved his job,” said one adult nephew through tears and visible anguish. “This is so sad that somebody could take his life the way he did.”

While there were lots of tears, there was also some laughter too.

“He would put my hands behind my back and tell me, ‘you have the right to remain silent and anything you say can be used against you in court,'” said another nephew, laughing through his tears.

In a time where some say the world is divided, the Valley community has come together.

“Even in their great sacrifice. In the loss of their lives. In the way that this community has come together to care for and support families, to care for and support police,” said Andrew Green, one of the department’s chaplains. “The police have supported each other.”

Greg Jackson, who retired from the PSPD in 2007, said he’s been to a number of police funerals. A friend of Officer Vega’s, he said this time it hurt a bit more.

“This really hit the community I think. They’re all just sad,” he told KESQ News Channel 3’s and CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner. “So it’s broken and it’s going to have to take a while to get fixed and we’ll move on.”

At the conclusion of the ceremony, candles were lit underneath a halo of light that appeared in the desert sky above the vigil.

A separate vigil was held for Officer Zerebny in Hemet where she lived with her husband, a deputy with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old John Felix of Palm Springs, was taken into police custody early Sunday morning after a 12-hour standoff with law enforcement. He was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in the city of Riverside on two counts of murder on a peace officer.