Jonathan DeGuzman: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Officer Jonathan DeGuzman. Photo released by San Diego Police Department.

San Diego Police Officer Jonathan “JD” DeGuzman, shot to death in a late night stop, was previously awarded a departmental purple heart after he was stabbed during a traffic stop and was remembered as a loving father who talked about his family constantly, according to NBC 7 San Diego and other news outlets.

The San Diego Police Department later released the name of the alleged gunman as Jesse Michael Gomez.

DeGuzman and a second officer, both in uniform, were shot during a stop late on July 28, said NBC. The San Diego chief said it was not clear whether they stopped a vehicle or person on foot, said Fox 5. The second officer is expected to survive.

The chief said “it was still unknown if the officers were victims of an ambush,” according to Fox 5.

The officer’s death comes in the wake of slayings of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Dallas, Texas following the shootings of African-American men by police in Baton Rouge and Minnesota. The motive for the San Diego shooting is not yet known, however.

“Our hearts go out to the wife and two kids of fallen Officer Jonathan DeGuzman,” said the San Diego police chief, Shelley Zimmerman. “This is gut-wrenching. He cared,” the chief said.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Police Found The Accused Gunman Wounded in a Ravine & Also Surrounded a House

Zimmerman said the alleged gunman was discovered in a nearby ravine. Police followed a blood trail to find him, and he was critically injured, said The San Diego Union Tribune. By evening, police announced that the accused gunman was Jesse Michael Gomez, 52, according to Reuters; Gomez was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder

An “extensive manhunt” was launched to find any additional suspects, said KTLA. According to Fox News, on July 29, police surrounded a house about a half mile from the “gunfight” that killed DeGuzman, looking for what may be a second suspect. A second man was arrested on an outstanding warrant but has not been charged in connection with the officers’ shootings, said Reuters.

The San Diego Padres paused for a moment of silence in honor of DeGuzman:

2. The Officers Were in an Anti-Gang Unit & Were Wearing Body Cameras When The Shooting Occurred

Fox News says the two officers were “anti-gang officers.” According to Fox, “the two gang suppression officers reported they were making the stop shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday and almost immediately radioed for emergency cover.” The shooting happened within seconds of that stop, said USA Today.

The injured officers were rushed to the hospital in a patrol car, but DeGuzman died of multiple gunshot wounds to the upper torso, said The San Diego Union-Tribune. Fox 5 said “both officers were wearing body cameras when they came under fire and police have recovered the video from those cameras,” according to the police chief.

3. The Police Chief Said Officer DeGuzman Was Married & Had Two Children

According to Fox 5, the chief described both of the officers as “heroic” and said the “the officer who died was married and had two children.” Tributes were posted on social media:

The chief said in a news conference about DeGuzman that “I can tell you he is a loving, caring husband, father, talked about his family all the time. I personally worked with him when I was a lieutenant at Mid-City Division.” She described the horrific nature of having to inform the family in such a death.

“You can imagine early in the morning when a chief knocks on the door of a family member,” Zimmerman said, according to the TV station. DeGuzman was 43-years-old, said The San Diego Union-Tribune.

DeGuzman, known as “JD,” had been on the force for 16 years. The San Diego Union Tribune interviewed Anthony Millican, spokesman for the elementary school that one of DeGuzman’s children attends. He told the newspaper that DeGuzman would show up at school in uniform and engage students about policing careers. He also was very involved in his child’s activities, Millican told the newspaper.

4. The Second Officer, Identified as Wade Irwin, Is Expected to Live & Is the Father of a Toddler

Officer Wade Irwin. (San Diego Police Department photo)

San Diego police said the second officer, while also shot, is expected to pull through. “We are grateful Officer Wade Irwin is expected to survive the attempt on his life,” the department said in a Tweet of its media briefing. NBC 7 said Irwin and his wife have a 19-month-old baby and she “has not left his side” at the hospital.

Irwin, who has been on the force nine years, is still unconscious, says the San Diego Union Tribune. Both officers were wearing bullet proof vests, The Union Tribune said.

5. DeGuzman Recovered From The Previous Stabbing & Won a Departmental Award For it

According to the San Diego NBC affiliate, Channel 7, DeGuzman “received the police department’s purple heart in 2003 after being stabbed by a suspect he stopped for speeding.”

The San Diego Union Tribune said DeGuzman, then 31, “was stabbed in the upper right arm after he pulled over the driver for speeding.” DeGuzman shot the man in the hip when the man tried to stab him again, and the man received 39 years to life in prison, said the newspaper.

The Tribune interviewed former San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne, who pinned the purple heart on DeGuzman’s shirt. Landsdowne told the newspaper that DeGuzman “had a good sense of humor. He was positive and upbeat. He had nothing but kind words ..He would always take the time to talk about his family. He was the really the kind of person you would like to be around.”

People left flowers at the scene of a police memorial in honor of DeGuzman after news of his death spread:

In 2014, DeGuzman was involved in a fatal shooting of a man who pointed a shotgun at officers, according to a report from the San Diego County District Attorney’s office.