A smaller crowd mourned De Guzman, 43, Thursday at his family church in Bonita, the small suburb where he will be buried. Uniformed police officers from as far as Chicago, New York, Aurora, Colorado, and Fort Worth, Texas, packed Corpus Christi Catholic Church for the 90-minute Mass.
De Guzman’s family, which includes his wife and two children, appeared “very touched and moved,” said the Rev. Efrain Bautista, the church pastor.
“It’s a tough situation but I think that our hope and our trust must be in God,” Bautista told reporters.
De Guzman died in the shooting July 28 after being struck five times after his partner approached a man on the street. Officer Wade Irwin, 32, was shot in the throat but was expected to recover.
Jesse Gomez, a construction worker with a criminal record stretching back to 1983, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of murder and attempted murder from his hospital room. He is recovering from wounds he received in a gunbattle with police.
Prosecutors say the two officers pulled up to Gomez, who was on foot, and Irwin got out of the patrol car to ask if he lived in the area. Gomez, 52, is accused of shooting Irwin and then moving to the open passenger door to fire several times into the car, killing De Guzman. After being shot, Irwin fired back as Gomez fled, prosecutors said.
Police have yet to determine a motive.
De Guzman died 13 years after surviving a stabbing on duty, for which he received the department’s purple heart. The 16-year veteran of the force had been stabbed in the right arm in 2003 after pulling over a driver for speeding. He shot the attacker in the hip after the man tried to stab him again.
In 2013, De Guzman was one of five officers who shot and killed a man who was wanted for a violent attack on the man’s father and raised a shotgun at officers in suburban Escondido. Prosecutors found the shooting was justified.
More than $30,000 has been raised for the Irwin family on gofundme.com. Donations for De Guzman’s family can be sent to the San Diego Police Officers Association, 8388 Vickers St., San Diego, CA 92111, or online at sdpoa.org/about-widows-orphans-fund/.
Epoch Times staff member Sarah Le contributed to this report.
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