Alpine takes part in memorial for slain officer
Alpine takes part in memorial for slain officer
Alpine sheriff’s deputies joined law enforcement officers from across the country at a memorial for slain gang unit officer, Jonathan “JD” DeGuzman, a 16-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).
Dressed in their green class “A” uniforms with black mourning bands over their badges, Deputy Sheriffs Eric Garcia; Jovonni Silva; Sheena Cross; and Sean McGillicuddy took part in the procession of at least 200 officers and of at least 600 patrol cars that escorted the fallen officer’s hearse from Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley to Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon where a public memorial service was held. The church was filled to its capacity of 4,100 and overflowing.
Several officials, including Chief of Police Shelley Zimmerman, Governor Jerry Brown, Attorney General of California Kamala Harris, and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer were also in attendance.
The Alpine Sun talked to Garcia about this somber and humbling experience.
Law enforcement officers support one another, regardless of what agencies they are from and regardless of where their agencies are located. They have each other’s back, as many say.
“When this happens, it happens to all of us. It could happen to us at any time,” said Garcia, noting he saw officers from as far away as NY in attendance.
“We all go to the same academy,” he said. “The bond is strong.”
“The only one out there watching your back is another cop,” Garcia said.
He also wanted to dispel the growing misconceptions about the extent of conflict between the public and law enforcement.
He said seeing the countless people standing along the roadways, many of whom were crying; holding signs and peace symbols; waving flags; and saluting, as the procession went by was the most humbling part of the experience for him.
“It makes us realize we are very supported, even if we don’t see it all the time,” he said. “We saw how the citizens really feel.”
“There are a lot of community versus cop things. There are a lot of negative ideas. It’s easy to forget people do like you,” said Garcia. “Sometimes, when you do this job during hard times, it’s easy to forget that the majority of the public supports you, and seeing all those things from citizens yesterday helps bring you back to reality,” he went on to say.
DeGuzman, while sitting in his patrol car on the night of June 28 in the Southcrest section of San Diego, was shot five times, reportedly at point-blank range, in a hail of gunfire that left his partner, Wade Irwin, wounded. DeGuzman later died at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. Irwin is expected to survive.
Both officers were wearing bulletproof vests and body cameras at the time of the shooting.
A suspect, identified as Jesse Michael Gomez, is in custody.
DeGuzman was remembered as a good-humored man who loved country music and Karaoke but, most of all, his family and serving the city of San Diego as a law enforcement officer, who was determined to “catch the bad guys,” as he would frequently say. And catch the bad guys he did, having had worked beats in some of San Diego’s toughest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods. He served on the anti-gang unit since 2010, and he became a SWAT team member in his 40s.
DeGuzman took time to educate school-age children about the law enforcement field.
In 2003 he was awarded SDPD’s Purple Heart after being stabbed in the arm during a traffic stop.
He was one of five police officers involved in firing 46 shots at an armed suspect with explosives and weapons in his car in Escondido in 2013. The suspect had pointed a gun in the directon of officers. The district attorney later ruled the shooting to be “justifiable in self-defense and/or the defense of others.”
At the service, Zimmerman commended DeGuzman for his heroic actions.
DeGuzman immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in his early 20s, and his family eventually settled in San Diego. He was able to relate to many people on his beats, as he worked in many culturally diverse neighborhoods where English is a second language.
DeGuzman was laid to rest at Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita with a flag covered in pins from fellow SWAT team members.
He is survived by a wife and two children.
