A California man with mental issues who told his father that he wanted to shoot cops killed two cops and wounded a third before disappearing in Palm Springs Saturday afternoon.
The shooting took place at 5 p.m. ET and the killer was still at large at 7:50 p.m.
Palm Springs police said they were responding to a case of “domestic abuse” when the man opened fire on them.
The man who called police, Frank Serrano, lives across the street from where the shooting took place.
He told local media that he was trying to help out the suspect’s father, who walked across the street and asked for help.
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According to the Desert Sun:
Frances Serrano, who lives directly across the street from where the shooting took place, spoke to the father of the suspected shooter moments before the incident. The father told Serrano that his son, who has mental issues, had a gun and wanted to shoot police officers.
“He came over and asked for help,” she said.
Serrano called the police and the father walked back toward his house. Soon after, Serrano heard gunshots. Later police knocked on Serrano’s door.
At 2:45 p.m., Serrano said two officers were on her front patio kneeling on the ground with rifles pointed at the shooter’s house.
The slain police were Lesley Zerebny and Jose Gilbert “Gil” Vega. Reyes said Vega was a 35-year veteran who was due to retire in December and had chosen to work overtime on Saturday. Zerebny is the mother of a 4-month-old baby, he said.
At this time, the shooter apparently is holed up in a home surrounded by police and armored cars.
The shooting took place two days after a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed responding to a burglary call.
We will update this as we get more information.
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