The tragic murder of a police veteran heading towards retirement and a new police mother, fresh out of maternity leave, shakes the citizens of popular vacation town in California.

Responding to a disturbance call in Palm Springs, California, Officers Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27, and an unnamed officer were shot by an assault rifle through the door of the house they were checking on. After being rushed to the hospital, both Vega and Zerebny died from the wounds inflicted from the gun. However, the third was released and is in stable condition.

Vega was due to retire in December after an impressive 35 years in the police force. Zerebny was fresh out of maternity leave and is leaving behind a four-month-old baby girl. Both victims had much to look forward to, motherhood and the completion of a career.

The arrested suspect is John Felix, a previously convicted felon for attempted murder. When he was taken into custody, he was wearing body armor and had high capacity magazines stocked on him.

It took SWAT 12 hours to get Felix out of his home to take him into custody. Officers tried unsuccessfully to make contact with him, which he did not respond to, and robots which failed to find his location.

Police death has become frequent recently. Rosalie Vallario, an art teacher at Wayne Hills, is afraid of what is to come next. Vallario said “There seems to be an epidemic of police shootings and they are now becoming the enemy. I’m afraid the police will start o hold back at their jobs due to the fear of being shot.”

Vallario has a valid reason for her worrying. The police are here for the well-being and the protection of the citizens of the United States. If they start to become timid while doing their jobs, it leaves the citizens at a greater risk.

However, police brutality has been increasing at a rapid pace as well with the deaths of Paul O’Neal and Alton Sterling. Recently, the Black Lives Matter movement has begun to fight dehumanization and persecution of African Americans. Vallario also says, “I think police brutality is a major problem and a way to fix it could be through extra screening to catch cops on the verge of crossing the line.”