UPDATE (Wednesday, Oct. 12): Man charged in deaths of 2 Palm Springs police officers, attempted killing of 3 others

In the minutes before three Palm Springs officers were shot, two fatally, the suspected gunman’s father told a neighbor his son was armed, “acting crazy” and wanted to shoot police.

John Hernandez Felix, 26, an admitted gang member, was apprehended early Sunday after a lengthy standoff and will be charged this week with murder.

Police said Felix finally emerged wearing soft body armor and carrying ammunition but no weapon after police shot a chemical agent into the home where he had holed up. Investigators were trying to piece together what led up to a 911 call about a family disturbance that preceded the cold-blooded killings.

A neighbor, Frances Serrano, said the suspect’s panicked father, Santos Felix, told her before the shooting that his son had a gun.

“My son is inside and we’re scared, he’s acting crazy,” Serrano said the older Felix told her. When it was suggested they call the police he said, “Yeah, he already knows they are coming, and he is going to shoot them.”

Serrano said she went back inside her house and within minutes, police cars arrived and gunfire erupted.

Police said John Felix suddenly pulled out a gun and opened fire on the officers who had responded to a family disturbance call Saturday afternoon at the home he shared with his parents in a quiet neighborhood of single-story ranch homes this desert resort city.

Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes identified the slain officers as Jose “Gil” Gilbert Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27.

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A third officer was wounded, but was released from the hospital Sunday “and is doing well,” police said in a news release. The officer’s name has not been released.

Zerebny, 27, who graduated from West Valley High School in Hemet in 2007, had been with the Palm Springs Police Department for about 18 months and recently returned early from maternity leave after giving birth to a daughter. She is married to a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy.

Vega, a married father of eight, was a 35-year veteran who planned to retire in December. He had been working overtime Saturday on his scheduled day off.

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Police arrested John Felix after shooting him with non-lethal rounds when he finally exited through the back door, unarmed but wearing body armor and carrying ammo. SWAT officers using bullhorns had tried through the night to establish contact with him, but got no response. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.

Jail records show he was arrested at 12:30 a.m. Sunday – just over 12 hours after the incident began – and booked at 6:48 a.m.

District Attorney Michael Hestrin said John Felix would be charged with first-degree murder and several other felony counts on Tuesday; the courts are closed Monday for Columbus Day. Prosecutors will decide within two weeks whether he could face the death penalty, Hestrin said. It wasn’t known Sunday if he has an attorney.

Court records show Felix is an admitted gang member who previously was sentenced to four years in prison in a 2009 shooting. In a plea deal, he admitted to assault with a firearm and a gang enhancement, and an attempted murder charge was dismissed.

RELATED: Details about the shooting suspect’s criminal past

He also was the subject of a forceful arrest three years ago at the same house where Saturday’s shootings occurred. He was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest, but ended up pleading guilty to an infraction of maliciously disturbing another person by loud noise.

Court records show convictions for a few other minor crimes: disturbing the peace in 2009; possession of drug paraphernalia in 2012, for which he got off probation this August; and driving under the influence in 2014, for which he is on probation until 2018.

Reyes indicated police had previous dealings with the suspect, but he declined to answer questions about whether responding officers were prepared to deal with someone with a violent criminal past. The chief would not characterize the content of the 911 call or say who made it.

It had been 54 years since an on-duty uniformed police officer was killed in Palm Springs, a city of 45,000 residents about 100 miles east of Los Angeles and 50 miles east of Riverside, known for its desert views, boutique hotels and golf courses.

In front of police headquarters, scores of people gathered to leave flowers, balloons and cards.

RELATED: Police, bystanders salute 2 fallen Palm Springs officers

Reyes said Zerebny “pressed forward every day to make it better for everybody else.” She and her husband were new parents to a 4-month-old baby.

“To see her laying down with her eyes open and to witness her husband in full Riverside County sheriff’s uniform … kiss her on the forehead for the last time … it’s tough,” Reyes said.

Vega had submitted his paperwork to retire at the end of the year after a long and decorated career, Reyes said.

“Here he is, 35 years in, still pushing a patrol car for our community to make it better — on a day he wasn’t even scheduled to work,” the chief said.

At Vega’s house in nearby Cathedral City, family members prepared to attend a Sunday evening candlelight vigil at the police station.

His brother-in-law, Jose Barron, said Vega was a family man and a dedicated officer who always spent a little extra time with teenagers he met while on patrol.

“He would always tell them: ‘You always have to look for the future,“’ Barron said. “He was very responsible.”

Palm Springs resident Heidi Thompson called the killings “vicious and cruel.”

“These officers are responding to a domestic call for somebody in need that they don’t even know. They put their life on the line for us, the community,” Thompson said. “I don’t understand it.”

The slayings come amid a tense year for police, when officers have been shot to death in other cities including Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Palm Springs shooting occurred just three days after a popular Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant was shot and killed in the high desert town of Lancaster. Sgt. Steve Owen was answering a burglary when he was shot. A paroled robber has been charged with murder.

Hundreds of residents held a candlelight vigil Saturday night in his honor.

Staff writers David Danelski and Craig Shultz contributed to this report.