By Miriam Raftery
East County Magazine
SAN DIEGO— A fund to help the widow and children of San Diego Police Officer Jonathan.”JD” DeGuzman has been set up by the San Diego Police Officers Association (SDPOA).
DeGuzman was fatally shot during a late-night traffic stop July 28. DeGuzman previously survived a stabbing 13 year ago during another traffic stop and was awarded the Purple Heart, NBC 7 reports.
A second officer, Wade Irwin, was also shot and underwent surgery and is expected to survive, but will face a long recovery, SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman has said.
You can donate online or mail a check to SDPOA at 8388 Vickers St., San Diego, CA 9211l.Be sure to note that your donation is for Officer Jonathan DeGuzman.
The tragedy follows a string of shootings targeting police in Dallas, New Orleans and elsewhere. But it is unknown whether the shootings of the two Diego officers was an ambush situation or not.
“Until more information becomes available, we’re not going to tie it to anything else,” Zimmerman said at a news conference at UC San Diego Medical Center, where Irwin is recovering. “I want to be clear. We’re not making any correlation. We just don’t know yet.”
Funeral services for DeGuzman are pending.
Jesse Gomez was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after a trail of blood led police to a ravine where he fled after the policemen were shot. Gomez was also shot in the chest but is expected to survived, according to SDPD.
A second man, Marcus Cassani, gave himself up for arrest shortly after a SWAT team surrounded his home nearby the morning after the deadly shootings. Chief Zimmerman has described him as a “possible suspect.”
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