Daughter of fallen PSPD officer escorted to school by the Valley’s finest

On October 8, 2016, Palm Springs lost two of its finest, officer Lesley Zerebny and Jose “Gil” Vega were gunned down in the line of duty when responding to a domestic disturbance call in Palm Springs. The law enforcement community mourned their loss but never forgot the families of the fallen.

One form of remembrance was continued today, in the form of a very special first day of school escort for Vanessa Vega, one of Gil Vega’s daughters.

Now, for the second year in a row, officers from the Palm Springs Police Department, Cathedral City Police Department, Desert Hot Springs Police Department, as well as deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department made sure that Vanessa Vega would have plenty of “impromptu dads” to make sure she got to school safe and sound.

“We feel like it’s our honor,” said Sgt. Casavan of the Palm Springs Police Department. “We’re kinda like her impromptu dads, I guess you could say. We show up to the house, we give her a big hug and wish her a great day at school and she goes in a police car to school and we follow her and walk her into class.”