Community in mourning after beloved off-duty officer shot in Vallejo home
VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- The suspect in the fatal Vallejo shooting of an off-duty Richmond police officer was arrested in Fairfield Thursday.
The shooting was reported around 4:30 a.m. at the victim's home on Narrangansett Court in the Glen Cove neighborhood of Vallejo. Several people were in that home at the time of the shooting, including the victim's wife.
RELATED: Domestic dispute turns deadly in shooting of off-duty officer in Vallejo
Sources say in a moment of gripping fear, Sandra Vegas, the victim's wife, jumped from the home's second story window. Family friends say at one point there were as many as 60 people inside the hospital with the family.
The tragedy extends beyond the law enforcement community. Officer Gus Vegas and his wife Sandra Vegas are well known in Vallejo where they started a foster care nonprofit called Foster Greatness.
Officer Gus Vegas' death is shaking not only the law enforcement community but all of Vallejo.
Lori Curran is a recently retired Lieutenant who says she worked alongside Officer Vegas his entire career.
"His house was the house by all accounts for his children, his grandkids and just people in Vallejo," Curran said.
She recently had an opportunity to learn more about his life outside of work. "Gus and his wife took in a lot of foster kids. When they needed, when someone was down and out he always opened his door," Curran added.
Officer Vegas' wife started a foster care nonprofit called Foster Greatness.
WATCH VIDEO: East Bay community mourns fallen Officer Gus Vegas
"That just says a lot about his character and what type of a human being he was," said Ben Therriault, Richmond Police Officer's Association President.
Therriault says Officer Vegas spoke about his 10 children, 20 grandchildren and many foster children often.
His brothers and sisters in blue were just that, family. "When something happens to one of us it happens to all of us and so we try to be there and take care of one another," Therriault said.
At Richmond Police Headquarters flags are at half-staff and officers have covered their badges with a black band, a tradition when mourning a fallen officer. Vegas was known as a skilled firearms instructor.
Many gathered outside Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo hugging one another, their prayers supported by the Richmond Police Department Chaplain.
"Anything that we can do, we're here for them," said Pastor Samuel Green of the Richmond Police Department.
"I'm just still in shock," Curran said.
Shock and sadness for an officer who wasn't killed in the line of duty and whose loss is being felt from Vallejo to Richmond and beyond.
A fund has been set up for the vegas family:
Mechanics Bank
Routing number: 121102036
Account number: 041305213
Richmond POA in memory of Gus Vegas
Click here for full coverage on the Richmond Officer Gus Vegas.
