The door to a police patrol car signed by all employees of a Southern California force honoring two murdered officers will be part of a national ceremony Monday in Washington D.C. for law enforcement members killed in the line of duty.
The Palm Springs Police Department has sent the car door to Washington D.C. to be laid alongside memorial wreaths honoring fallen officers to remember slain Palm Springs officers Jose “Gil” Vega and Lesley Zerebny.
The door will be placed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall during the 36th annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, to be held on the west front lawn of the U.S. Capitol, according to Palm Springs police Sgt. William Hutchinson.
The service will coincide with National Police Week, which will see thousands of uniformed officers from around the country descend on the nation’s capital starting this weekend in remembrance of their fallen fellow officers.
Vega and Zerebny were honored earlier this week in Sacramento, where their names, along with eight others killed last year throughout the state, were added to the California Peace Officers’ Memorial Monument on the state Capitol grounds.
Vega, 63, and Zerebny, 27, were killed Oct. 8 while responding to a family disturbance call. John Hernandez Felix, 26, allegedly fired on the officers through the metal screen door of his home, striking Vega, Zerebny, and a third officer who survived his injuries.
Vega had been with the department for 35 years — five years past his retirement eligibility — and had planned to finish his career in December. Zerebny had been with the department for about 18 months and had just returned to duty from maternity leave after the birth of a daughter.