PALM SPRINGS >> Two police officers — a 35-year veteran nearing retirement and a new mother — were shot and killed Saturday and a third was wounded after responding to a family disturbance, police said.

The suspect was still at-large as of Saturday night.

“Today, Palm Springs lost two brave officers,” Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes said. “They gave it all for you.”

A family disturbance

The mother of the shooting suspect called 911 at 12:18 p.m., claiming her son was causing a disturbance.

Upon their arrival, officers were confronted by a young man who said he would shoot them through the front door of the home, Reyes said.

Officers were talking calmly to the man, trying to resolve things when he suddenly opened fire on them.

Law enforcement agencies from across the region responded.

SWAT officers have surrounded a home where the shooting took place Saturday afternoon. They believe the gunman may still be inside.

No new information about the shooting suspect was expected to be released until the situation had resolved itself, said Riverside County sheriff’s Deputy Armando Munoz.

‘In a nightmare’

Reyes identified the two slain officers as Jose “Gil” Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27.

Vega, was a 35-year veteran on the force, due to retire in December. He had eight children. Vega wasn’t scheduled to work Saturday, but he chose to take on the overtime shift.

Zerebny has been a Palm Springs officer for a year and a half. She’s the mother to a 4-month-old baby, and she had just returned to the road, Reyes said.

A third officer remains at the hospital, being treated for gunshot wounds.

The third officer is alert and talking, according to Reyes.

The chief fought back tears when speaking about his officers.

“I’m awake in a nightmare right now,” Reyes said. “As chief of police, I need to step forward and stay focused.”

’All hell broke loose’

Neighbors say the violence in the area is unusual.

Bill Buxton, a 56-year-old Palm Springs native, was sitting on his porch when authorities responded to the shooting.

“All of a sudden, all hell broke loose,” said Buxton, who lives just north of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred. “Every siren you can imagine, for 30 minutes straight. … This doesn’t happen here.”

Bill Flores, who lives in the 1800 block of Francis Drive, a few blocks from where the shooting took place, said he’s heard gunfire before — even noticed the distinctive sound early Saturday — but discounted it because of the placid nature of his manicured neighborhood.

“I thought that must just be construction or something; then I saw all the police cars,” Flores said. “I said ‘that can’t be gunshots, this is Palm Springs.’ ”

Everything shut down

Actor John Barrowman, known for his roles on “Arrow” and “Doctor Who,” tweeted that the shooting happened a short distance from his home.

“All the neighborhood is in lockdown, everything is shut down,” Barrowman said in a video put on Twitter shortly before 5 p.m. He said even local grocery stores were closed.

A memorial grows

In the wake of the shooting, several people gathered at the Palm Springs Police Memorial Plaza, leaving flowers and votive candles at the foot of a statue depicting an officer comforting a fallen comrade.

Dedicated in 1996, the plaque honors Lyle Larrabee and Gale Eldridge, both Palm Springs officers killed in the line of duty in the early 1960s.

A man in a tattered baseball cap, who asked not to be photographed, said “to the fallen” as he placed an American flag at the foot of the statue.

Officers salute slain colleagues

Dozens of police officers, several fighting back tears, gave somber salutes Saturday night as the bodies of two Palm Springs officers killed Saturday were loaded into hearses for transfer to a coroner’s office.

The officers and numerous civilians gathered Saturday night outside the Palm Springs Desert Regional Medical Center, where Officers Lesley Zerebny and Jose Gilbert Vega died of their wounds.

The officers’ flag-draped coffins were wheeled out of the hospital and gently placed in white hearses.

Previous shooting

The shooting occurred just three days after a popular Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant was shot and killed in Lancaster.

Sgt. Steve Owen was answering a burglary call when sheriff’s officials say he was shot and fatally wounded by a man who then stood over him and shot him four more times.

Trenton Trevon Lovell, a paroled robber, has been charged with murder.

Lancaster residents were organizing a candlelight memorial for Owen on Saturday night.

City News Service, The Associated Press and staff writer Alex Groves contributed to this report.