CHULA VISTA, Calif. - A Chula Vista post office branch was dedicated Monday in the name of a slain San Diego police officer -- near his family's home in the Eastlake neighborhood.
The facility is on the corner of Kuhn Drive and Miller Drive, and it is now known as the Jonathan J.D. De Guzman Post Office Building. The legislation was carried by Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, and was signed into law by President Barack Obama before he left office.
De Guzman, 43, was shot multiple times at point blank range and killed during a routine stop of a gang member in Southeast San Diego on July 28, 2016. Prosecutors said the attack happened so quickly that he never had the opportunity to pull his service weapon. He is survived by his parents, a wife and two children.
Speakers at the dedication who joined Davis included De Guzman's son, Jed, San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman, and a district manager from the U.S. Postal Service. Officer Wade Irwin, De Guzman's partner, attended the ceremony. Irwin was also shot during the confrontation with a suspected gang member.
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"My father's name will remind them of what sacrifices police officers and other first responders make to keep people safe," Jed De Guzman said.
"Not many people get their father's name on a post office and I feel really happy," said Amira De Guzman, JD's daughter.
"The memory of Officer Jonathan De Guzman will live on," Davis said in a statement when the legislation was introduced. "Generations will know the sacrifice he made and that he dedicated his life to protecting and serving the San Diego community he loved. This is a tribute to him and our law enforcement officers who make the safety of San Diegans their top priority."
The entire San Diego congressional delegation joined as original cosponsors of Davis's legislation and all of California's House members supported the bill.
De Guzman was a decorated, 16-year veteran of the SDPD who "always raised the bar and cared deeply for his community," Zimmerman said.
