PALM SPRINGS, Calif.: In the minutes before three Palm Springs officers were shot, two fatally, the suspected gunman’s father told a neighbor his son was armed, “acting crazy” and wanted to shoot police.
John Felix, 26, was apprehended early Sunday after a lengthy standoff and will be charged this week with murder.
Police said Felix finally emerged wearing soft body armor and carrying ammunition but no weapon after police shot a chemical agent into the home where he had holed up. Investigators were trying to piece together what led up to a 911 call about a family disturbance that preceded the cold-blooded killings.
A neighbor, Frances Serrano, told the Associated Press that the suspect’s panicked father, Santos Felix, earlier said his son, an admitted gang member, had a gun.
“My son is inside and we’re scared, he’s acting crazy,” Serrano said the older Felix told her. When it was suggested they call the police he said, “Yeah, he already knows they are coming, and he is going to shoot them.”
Serrano said she went back inside her house and within minutes police cars arrived and gunfire erupted.
Police said John Felix suddenly pulled out a gun and opened fire on the officers who had responded to a disturbance call Saturday afternoon at the home he shared with his parents in a quiet neighborhood in this desert resort city.
Palm Springs police Chief Bryan Reyes identified the slain officers as Jose “Gil” Gilbert Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27.
Zerebny had been with the department for about 18 months and recently returned early from maternity leave after giving birth to a daughter. Vega, a married father of eight, was a 35-year veteran who planned to retire in December. He had been working overtime Saturday on his scheduled day off.
The wounded officer’s name was not released, but Reyes said he was alert, speaking with investigators and was expected to be released from a hospital later Sunday.
Police arrested John Felix after shooting him with non-lethal rounds when he exited through the back door. SWAT officers using bullhorns and other methods had tried through the night to establish contact with him, but got no response. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.
District Attorney Michael Hestrin said Felix would be charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and several other felony counts. Prosecutors would decide within two weeks whether he could face the death penalty, Hestrin said. It wasn’t known Sunday if Felix has an attorney.
Court records show Felix is a gang member who was previously sentenced to four years in prison in a failed murder plot in 2009.