A Day of Mourning, a Search for Killer

Los Angeles police investigators Monday pursued a number of “solid leads” in the ambush slaying of a fellow officer, interviewing witnesses and gang members during an intensive manhunt for suspects in Sunday’s killing.

At one point, sources said, detectives seemed on the verge of arresting gang members suspected of shooting Officer Filbert H. Cuesta in the back of the head as he sat in a patrol car. Despite promising information early in the day, no arrests had been made by late Monday.

“We’re going to solve it,” said Capt. Jim Tatreau, who heads the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division. “It’s just going to take some time.”

Cuesta, a 26-year-old gang specialist, was mortally wounded as he and his partner, Officer Richard Gabaldon, waited for other officers to help them break up a loud party early Sunday near Jefferson Park in South Los Angeles.

Throughout the LAPD on Monday, downcast officers put black bands around their badges to mourn Cuesta’s death. Meanwhile, department psychologists met with officers from the Southwest Division--where Cuesta was assigned--to help them cope with the tragedy.

“The mood in the station is very somber,” said Capt. Jim McDonnell, who supervises detectives at Southwest. “It’s like losing a member of your family.”

The shooting was particularly upsetting to police because of its callous and senseless nature. Cuesta leaves a wife and two young daughters, ages 18 months and 4 weeks.

“Of all the cowardly acts I’ve witnessed in this business, this is the most cowardly,” said Deputy Chief Martin Pomeroy. “The fact that his two children could be deprived of their father’s love in this manner is absolutely appalling.”

City officials from Mayor Richard Riordan on down condemned the shooting.

“I’m not allowed to release any of the information at this point, but the police are very much on top of it,” Riordan said after a Metropolitan Transportation Authority news conference Monday.

“They are going to . . . capture whoever committed this horrible crime,” he added. “Right now, I still want to break down and cry when I think of Sylvia Cuesta, the wife of Fil Cuesta.”

Councilwoman Laura Chick, head of the city’s public safety committee, called Cuesta a “valiant hero” who “was murdered by lowlife scum. . . . I vow I will not rest until this animal is captured and our streets are returned to the people of Los Angeles.”

Councilman Nate Holden said he is willing to propose that the City Council offer a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Cuesta’s killer, if investigators believe such a reward is needed.

Few Details on Shooting

Police sources said detectives still are investigating some very “hopeful leads” and that it may be premature to start offering a reward. Police generally ask for reward money only when all their leads have dried up.

Detectives remained tight-lipped about many of the details of the shooting. Police would only say that at the time of the shooting Cuesta and his partner were sitting in their parked squad car in the 5300 block of Carlin Street, a few blocks south of the Santa Monica Freeway and just west of La Brea Avenue.

They were waiting for backup officers to arrive and help them disperse a wedding party at a residence that had become too loud. Police said gang members showed up at the party uninvited. Cuesta apparently recognized gang members at the party, police said, but they declined to say how he saw them.

Before their backup arrived, Cuesta and his partner were barraged by gunfire. Cuesta was struck in the head. Gabaldon returned fire. Police declined to say how far the attacker or attackers were from the patrol car before the gunfight erupted.

“The officers weren’t even taking any real enforcement action,” said Gary Fullerton, a director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. “They were just sitting in their car minding their own business. This shows you the sign of the times and the total disregard for authority there is.”

Police sources said investigators are exploring the possibility that there were two gunmen firing at Cuesta’s squad car.

Neighborhood Beset by Gang Clashes

On Monday, residents in the mostly working-class Latino neighborhood where the shooting occurred said they were upset about the shooting, but not surprised.

They said gang-related gunfire is common in the area due to clashes between members of the 18th Street gang and rival gangs from adjacent neighborhoods.

“You hide with fear when you hear it,” said Milton Revero, a mechanic who lives a few doors away from the site of the shooting.

Neighbors on Carlin Street said they hope the shooting will force police to crack down on the gang violence that forces them to lock themselves in at night.

Meanwhile, in Norwalk, Cuesta’s family and friends spent the day crying and talking about his life and plans.

His wife Sylvia and her two children, Sierra Rose, 4 weeks, and Samantha, 18 months, remained secluded inside. A steady stream of well-wishers from the Police Department, some bearing flowers, arrived at the house.

Some went inside and watched videos with the family of a recent trip that Cuesta took with the girls to Disney World.

Cuesta was described as a happy, cheerful, dedicated family man and a favorite among neighborhood children.

“He was always playing with the kids in the neighborhood and taking them places. He’s really going to be missed,” Alfred Aguirre, Cuesta’s brother-in-law, said, choking back tears.

The Cuestas were a close-knit family, many of whom lived in his neat, Norwalk neighborhood. Aguirre and his wife, Leticia, who is Sylvia’s sister, lived nearby. Leticia’s parents lived around the corner.

Leticia said her sister is taking Cuesta’s death hard.

“She is destroyed,” she said. “This has destroyed her family.”

“This has shattered their dreams, everything they dreamed about together,” Leticia said. “He can never be replaced.”

Just Returned From Paternity Leave

Cuesta, who grew up in Whittier, had already studied criminal justice at Cerritos College, and was attending Cal State Long Beach. He planned to get a bachelor’s degree.

Last Thursday was his first day at work after a one-month paternity leave, Aguirre said.

Friday, the day before he was killed, Cuesta had taken the detective’s exam.

“They had their whole life ahead of them,” Leticia said. “They had been dressing up the bedroom for their baby. They were talking about remodeling their home and about the day their little girls would grow up and go to their proms.

“Sylvia and the girls were his whole, entire world, and he was ours, because it is not going to be the same without him, never.”

Cuesta’s father, Filbert Cuesta Sr. declined to comment, except to say: “I raised a good son, and some coward shot him in the back.”

The Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation announced a fund to aid Cuesta’s widow and daughters.

Donations may be sent to Sylvia Cuesta, c/o Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, 333 S. Grand Ave., Suite 4600, Los Angeles, CA 90071; attn: Tom Holliday.

Times staff writers Jeffery L. Rabin and Hugo Martin contributed to this report.

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Losses Among the Ranks

Fifteen LAPD officers have been killed in the line of duty since 1990:

* Filbert H. Cuesta, 26, shot Aug. 9, while in his patrol car awaiting backup outside a loud wedding party in southwest Los Angeles. Survived by wife and two small children.

* Steve Gajda, 29, shot Jan. 1 while struggling with an armed murder suspect outside a boisterous party in Boyle Heights. Survived by wife and two children.

* Van Johnson, 31, struck and killed Feb. 5, 1997, by a pickup truck while chasing a traffic violator in Koreatown. Survived by wife.

* Mario Navidad, 27, shot Dec. 23, 1996, by a thief suspected of stealing beer from a 7-Eleven on Fairfax Avenue. Survived by wife and two children.

* Gabriel Perez-Negron, 31, killed by a speeding motorist Nov. 4, 1995, while on patrol in Reseda. Survived by mother and brother.

* Charles Dean Heim, 33, shot Oct. 21, 1994, while investigating drug dealing at a Hollywood motel. Survived by wife.

* Christy Lynne Hamilton, 45, shot Feb. 22, 1994, while investigating a murder in Northridge. Survived by two children.

* Clarence Wayne Dean, 46, killed early on Jan. 17, 1994, when his motorcycle plunged off an overpass of the Antelope Valley Freeway, which had collapsed during the Northridge earthquake. Survived by grown son.

* David Schmid, 34, died of injuries suffered when his motorcycle collided with a car in Lancaster on Dec. 16, 1992. Survived by wife who was pregnant with their first child.

* Raymond Messerly Jr., 42, killed Oct. 22, 1992, while pursuing a suspected traffic violator in Van Nuys when his motorcycle struck a car. Survived by wife and six children.

* Edward Kislo, 50, shot Aug. 23, 1992, while responding to assist a neighbor with a reported prowler. Survived by a teenage son.

* Gary Howe, 41, and Charles R. Champe, 46, died June 13, 1991, when their police helicopter crashed in a vacant lot in southwest Los Angeles. Howe was survived by his wife and three children, Champe by his wife.

* Tina Kerbrat, 34, shot Feb. 11, 1991, while questioning two men who were drinking beer on a sidewalk in Sun Valley. Survived by husband and two children.

* Russell Kuster, 50, shot Oct. 9, 1990, while trying to calm an angry, armed man inside a Hollywood restaurant. Survived by wife.

Source: LAPD Media Relations Section; Times news files.

Researched by TRACY THOMAS/Los Angeles Times