Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/737358
ByAmyTaxin and John Rogers TheAssociatedPress PALM SPRINGS A domes- tic violence call that ended the lives of two California police officers last weekend was the kind of report that many authorities say they hate and fear the most. For no matter how much training and experience of- ficers receive, they often have little idea what awaits them when they approach the scene of such a distur- bance. "You never know all the facts until you get there. And you never know what's on the other side of that door," said Erroll Southers, a former police officer and FBI special agent who is currently di- rector of the Homegrown Violent Studies Program at the University of South- ern California. Police say Palm Springs Officers Jose "Gil" Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny had just asked John Fe- lix to come out of his fam- ily's home Saturday when he opened fire through the closed front door. A neighborhood home surveillance system re- corded the sound of doz- ens of gunshots echo- ing through the ordinar- ily quiet neighborhood. Its camera did not show the of- ficers. Vega and Zerebny were killed and a third officer was treated for a gunshot wound and later released from a hospital. A fourth officer was unharmed. A neighbor, Frances Ser- rano, told The Associated Press that the suspect's panicked father, Santos Fe- lix, told her just before the shooting that his 26-year- old son was armed and "act- ing crazy." When she suggested he call police, Serrano said he told her, "'Yeah, he already knows they are coming, and he is going to shoot them.'" Efforts to reach Santos Felix for comment have been unsuccessful. John Felix was appre- hended early Sunday af- ter a lengthy standoff and authorities say he will be charged with murder. Authorities have so far declined to release a 911 recording alerting police about a problem or say who made the call, and it wasn't immediately clear if the of- ficers knew they were about to confront someone wait- ing to kill them. Vega and Zerebny, like all California peace officers, were thoroughly trained in handling domestic violence calls, said Riverside County sheriff's Deputy Mike Vasquez, whose agency is investigating the shooting. Vega, 63, was a 35-year veteran of the force who was preparing to retire soon. Zerenby, 27, had been with the department about 18 months and her hus- band is a sheriff's deputy. The couple has a 4-month old daughter. All of the officers at the Felix home were wearing bullet-proof vests, a Palm Springs Police Department requirement, said Sgt. Wil- liam Hutchinson. Southers said it's stan- dard procedure for dis- patchers to press a 911 caller for as much informa- tion as they can get, then relay it to officers so they'll have an idea what they're getting into. "They want to know what is the situation," he said. "Is it an argument? What's go- ing on in the house? Who is in the house? Most im- portantly, we always ask if there are any weapons in the house." Dispatchers may not have had an opportunity to ob- tain that information dur- ing the call on Saturday, he said, and even if they had, there would be little time to react to a heavily armed gunman firing repeatedly through the door as soon as the officers approached. "There's not much you can do in a situation like that," Southers said. "You're totally defensive." In addition, the nature of a domestic violence call can change in an instant. "We can go to what is a domestic violence (call) and it turns to active shooter," Vasquez said. "Someone says it was active shooter and it was a backfire on a vehicle. Everything is fluid." Palm Springs, which had not lost an officer in the line of duty since 1962, mourned Monday as authorities in- vestigated. A makeshift memorial outside police headquarters in the desert resort town of 45,000 people about 100 miles east of Los Angeles grew as mourners placed balloons, flowers, stuffed animals, American flags and cards. So many can- dles were lit that the air was thick with the smell of wax. Tracy Burwell said she didn't know the officers per- sonally but added that res- idents interact with police all the time in the tight-knit community. "They look so strong and ready to protect us," she said. "This is just devastat- ing." Authorities said services for the officers are pending. PALM SPRINGS Callthatendedofficers'liveswasamongmostunpredictable AMYTAXIN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A visitor pays his respect at a memorial for Palm Springs Police Officers Lesley Zerebny, and Jose "Gil" Gilbert Vega,seen in photos placed in front of the police station in Palm Springs on Monday. The Associated Press HALF MOON BAY An an- nual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern Cal- ifornia has a new win- ner: a third-grade teacher in Washington state who raised a giant one weigh- ing 1,910 pounds. Cindy Tobeck, 42, who lives outside Olym- pia, Washington, said her pumpkin grew steadily since she planted it in April, spending much of that time in a greenhouse with heated soil. She said the secret to growing gi- ant pumpkins is using the right seed. "I am just over the moon elated right now," she said. "It was just a real steady grower. It wasn't an explo- sive grower... it kept grow- ing well into the summer when a lot of pumpkins slow down." Hers came from a 2,230-pound pumpkin that won a different contest last year. Tobeck beat out more than two dozen other pumpkins from Oregon, Washington and Califor- nia, said Timothy Beeman, a spokesman for the Safe- way World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay. The runner-up weighed 1,723 pounds. To- beck was shy of the con- test record by about 150 pounds. At $6 a pound, Tobeck will receive nearly $11,500 in prize money Last year, Oregon farmer Steve Daletas won the 42nd Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-off, when his pumpkin came in at 1,969 pounds. On Sunday, the Giant Pumpkin European Cham- pionship was held in Lud- wigsburg, Germany, and a pumpkin weighing about 2,623 pounds took home the award for the heavi- est. If anyone would have broken that record they would have received a spe- cial $30,000 mega prize. AGRICULTURE Winner named at giant pumpkin annual weigh-off By Jonathan J. Cooper The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Election Day is almost a month away, but voting season has ar- rived in California. County election offi- cials began sending ballots Monday to millions of vot- ers who registered to vote by mail. Monday was also the day when voters can be- gin casting ballots in per- son during business hours at their county elections office, though some were closed for Columbus Day. Before noon, dozens of voters had cast ballots early in Orange County, said Neal Kelley, the county's regis- trar of voters. "As I'm speaking, trucks are being loaded with al- most 800,000 ballots that are being mailed out," Kel- ley said. They aren't necessar- ily the first Californians to vote, however. Ballots were sent last month to members of the military and people who live overseas. The California secretary of state reported last week that nearly 18.3 million peo- ple were registered to vote as of Sept. 9. 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