A second man was arrested on a warrant near the shooting scene, but the chief says investigators haven’t yet determined if he was involved.
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“I can tell you he is a loving, caring husband, father”.
Henwood was the second San Diego police officer killed on the job within 10 months.
The police did not mention the cause of the shooting, but Zimmerman noted that the police have video evidence because the shot officers wore camera when it happened. On Oct. 28, 2010, Officer Chris Wilson, 50, was shot to death during a probation raid at a Skyline-area apartment complex.
Shelley Zimmerman, the chief of San Diego Police Department, said at a conference at 11:00 am local time that Jonathan DeGuzman, 16-year veteran of San Diego Police Department, was dead. Police followed his blood to a ravine near the shooting and arrested him there, said The Los Angeles Times.
Authorities around the US remain on high alert following the murders of five police officers in Dallas and three in Baton Rouge, La., earlier this month.
The chain of events started about 11 p.m. Thursday when DeGuzman and Wade Irwin, 32, stopped someone in a southeastern neighborhood, although it wasn’t immediately clear whether the gang officers stopped a pedestrian or a vehicle, police said.
During a press conference on Friday, SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman said the violent incident unfolded “extremely quickly…in seconds to a minute or so”. He was in critical condition Friday with a gunshot wound but was expected to survive.
The Wall Street Journal noted that police shooters in Dallas and Baton Rouge had specifically targeted police officers; however, in San Diego, authorities were still investigating the exact circumstances, including whether the shooting was an ambush, said The Wall Street Journal. The accused gunman, identified as Jesse Michael Gomez, 52, was charged with murder and attempted murder in the case. He cared. He came to work every single day just wanting to make a positive difference in the lives of our community. The 43-year-old died at Scripps Mercy Hospital after doctors’ efforts to save him failed.
DeGuzman received the purple heart in 2003 after he was stabbed by a man he had stopped for speeding.
Faulconer was out of town with his family when the shootings occurred, but cut his plans short to be back in San Diego.
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Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman says the two gang suppression officers reported they were making the stop shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday and nearly immediately radioed for emergency cover. Checks made payable to the organization, with “Officer Jonathan DeGuzman” in the memo line, can be sent to the SDPOA’s offices at 8388 Vickers St., San Diego, CA 92111.
