Off-duty Richmond police officer shot dead in his Vallejo home

An off-duty Richmond police officer was shot and killed in his Vallejo home early Thursday by the father of his 6-year-old grandson, who then fled with the boy and was arrested a short time later in Fairfield, authorities said.

The slain officer was identified as Augustine “Gus” Vegas, 58, a 15-year veteran of the department and an investigator in homicide and property crime cases.

The alleged shooter, identified as Robert Vega, 30, of Fairfield, was arrested without incident outside an undisclosed residence in Fairfield, about 15 miles from the site of the shooting.

Vallejo and Richmond police said the motive and the circumstances for the shooting were under investigation, but one official called it the result of a domestic dispute.

Somber leaders of the Vallejo and Richmond police departments held a press conference in Vallejo, where officers stood quietly with ashen faces and black tape on their badges.

Richmond police Capt. Mark Gagan, who worked daily with Vegas, said the shooting was the result of a domestic dispute.

At Richmond police headquarters, officers lowered the flag to half staff and gathered quietly in groups to mourn their colleague and friend.

Crime-scene tape was blocking off Narragansett Court in a quiet residential community as several detectives and police officers were going in and out of Vegas’ home on the block.

Estepa said that the officer lived at the home with his wife and a teenage daughter, with whom she goes to high school.