What to Know Officer Juan Jose Diaz was killed July 27 after confronting a group of taggers

Police later arrested reputed gang members during morning raids in two Southern California counties

The slain officer had been with the LAPD for about two years, accomplishing a childhood dream

A 24-year-old Los Angeles police officer who was off-duty when he was shot and killed after confronting a group of taggers in a neighborhood northeast downtown Los Angeles was remembered Monday at a memorial service.

The memorial service for Officer Juan Jose Diaz was at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown LA. Diaz was killed in the early morning hours of July 27 near Avenue 26 and Artesian Street in Lincoln Heights, a neighborhood northeast of downtown LA where he had gone with his girlfriend and her two brothers to a taco stand.

Diaz grew up in the area, and professed his desire as a child to become a police officer.

Among the numerous uniformed LAPD officers on hand for the 90-minute services was Chief Michel Moore. Also attending were retired LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Moore called Diaz "a young man filled with such life and possibility, so senselessly taken from us."

"Today, as our faith and culture would have it, is to be a day of celebration and remembrance; to all of us, it's a profound day of sorrow and loss," Moore said.

Following the services, the flag-draped casket was escorted from the cathedral past rows of officers standing at attention.

He had been with the LAPD for about two years when he was killed. Colleagues described Officer Diaz as someone who showed up every day with a smile, always ready to do what he could to help his community.

Officer Diaz is survived by his father, Candelario; mother, Rocio; and sisters, Sarahy and Anahy.

"He grew up here in northeast Los Angeles," Mayor Eric Garcetti said earlier this month. "When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up as a little boy, he was one of those boys who said, 'a police officer.'

"I think many of us say that when we're 6 or 7. He actually did it. He came to this (police) academy, did exceptionally well in this academy. Because of that was picked for some special duty. And (he) was doing what a police officer does -- protecting his own community and the people of this city when his life was senselessly taken from him."

Nevada State Trooper Jacob Fisher was one of many law enforcement officers from outside California at Monday's service.

"To have the opportunity to protect innocent civilians on a daily basis and to serve our communities and to serve our states, it's something that many of us have dreamt about since we were children," Fisher said. "And, then, to have the opportunity to do that when we're adults, it's an amazing opportunity. It's extremely humbling and it's something that we all signed up for we all raised our left hand and we enjoy doing it on a daily basis."

Three people were arrested in Riverside County Aug. 2 in connection with Diaz's shooting deathg. Two of them, reputed gang members Cristian Facundo, 20, of Murrieta, and Francisco Talamantes III, 23, of Temecula, were subsequently charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, along with a special circumstance allegation of murder by an active member of a street gang. Both men, along with another suspect, Ashlynn Smith, 18, of Temecula, were also charged with shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and vandalism.

Smith also faces a count of being an accessory after the fact, while Talamantes was charged with a count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Capt. William Hayes of the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division said Diaz and his group spotted Facundo and Smith July 27 walking on the other side of the street while they were at the taco stand, and saw Facundo bend down and begin painting graffiti on a sidewalk. Diaz and another member of his group questioned Facundo, who became aggressive toward them and lifted his shirt to reveal that he was carrying a handgun, Hayes said.

According to Hayes, Facundo walked away briefly, and Diaz and his group decided to leave the area and got into a pickup. As the group was leaving the scene, Facundo and Talamantes ran along the right side of the truck, and Facundo fired several rounds through a rear window, striking Diaz and another man inside, Hayes said.

Diaz died at the scene, and the other man was critically injured in the shooting recorded on surveillance video, Hayes said. Diaz was armed but had no chance to defend himself, police said.

"Juan's death leaves a lasting wound, his murder a lasting scar," police Chief Michel Moore told mourners Monday.

The driver fled the area and spotted a nearby LAPD patrol car and requested help, Hayes said.

According to Hayes, the shooting of Diaz came amid a roughly 90-minute crime spree carried out by the three suspects and an unidentified 21-year-old Los Angeles woman. Hayes said that shortly after midnight July 27, the group went to the 2500 block of West Avenue 33 and vandalized a vehicle belonging to a former boyfriend of one of the women.

About 20 minutes later, the group went to the 4200 block of Eagle Rock Boulevard and painted gang graffiti on a business in that area, after which they moved on to the area of the taco stand in Lincoln Heights, Hayes said.

Following that shooting, the group went back to Avenue 33 and waited for the ex-boyfriend whose car the suspects had vandalized earlier, Hayes said. When that person appeared, one of the suspects tried to open fire, but the weapon malfunctioned, Hayes said.

Facundo and Talamantes face a possible death sentence if convicted, but prosecutors will decide later whether to seek capital punishment.