Law&Crime Sidebar - TikTok Fitness Influencer Killed Outside Sushi Spot by Scorned Lover: Cops

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

Just days before she was gunned down outside a restaurant in Fontana, California, social media fitness influencer Gloria Zamora announced on a podcast that she planned to divorce her estranged husband, Thomas Alberto Tamayo Lizarraga. He would later kill her and a male companion, Hector Garduno, in a parking lot, before being shot himself by an off-duty deputy, according to law enforcement. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber analyzes the dangerous situation with Kyle Shoberg, a California police officer and host of the Shots Fired podcast.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you received Depo-Provera birth control shots and were later diagnosed with a brain or spinal tumor called meningioma, you may be eligible for a lawsuit. Visit https://forthepeople.com/lcdepo to start a claim now!HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. I decided to end my second marriage. When somebody wants to test me, don't challenge me, because I'm on prove you wrong. Just days after fitness influencer Gloria Zamora spoke those powerful words about leaving her husband, she was gunned down in a sushi restaurant parking lot along with the man she was with, and police say the killer was none other than her estranged husband. We're going to be breaking down the devastating fallout of this tragic case. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

Hey, everybody, this is another law and crime legal alert. You received Depro-Provera birth control shots and were later diagnosed with a brain or spinal tumor called Meningioma, you may be eligible for a lawsuit. That's right. Morgan and Morgan, they're investigating claims that patients weren't properly warned about this risk. It's free to check, just takes a few minutes, and you don't pay unless they win. So scan the QR code on screen, click the link below, or go to for the people.com slash LC Depot to see if you qualify. A heartbreaking and violent tragedy has shaken the fitness in social media communities out in California. Gloria Zamora, a popular fitness influencer and mother of seven was shot and killed

over the weekend, along with her dinner date, and what authorities believe was an act of domestic violence carried out by her estranged husband. And a suspected gunman was actually fatally shot at the scene by an off-duty sheriff's deputy. This is according to police. So we're going to break down what happened, what investigators have confirmed, and obviously the deep impact. This is left on the families and the many children that have been left behind. It was Saturday night, June 21st, when 40-year-old Gloria Zamora and 43-year-old Hector Garduno went out for sushi in Fontana. This is a city outside of L.A. Now, family members told NBC4 that the two had been meeting up to discuss a new business project,

a gym that specifically catered to women. At some point that evening, Gloria's estranged husband, Tomas Alberto Tamayo Lizaraga, showed up in the parking lot, and police say he approached the couple and he opened fire. Fontana police officer, Steve Reed, told local affiliate ABC7, quote, we don't know how he knew where she was at, but apparently she had been at the restaurant for approximately an hour prior to the shooting. So why was he there? Well, according to Officer Reed, it all came down to one word.

They were going through a divorce. That's what led to this. Divorce. That is a detail that is more than just context. Because, in fact, just days before the shooting, Gloria Zamora made a decision that may have tragically sealed her fate. And we're going to come back to that. But for now, police believe that Lizaraga deliberately tracked her down before shooting both Zamora and Garduno at point blank range. Several off-duty law enforcement officers happened to be nearby when this shooting

occurred. And one of them, a San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy, was driving past the shopping center when he heard the shots ring out. According to Officer Reed, quote, he was driving on the street outside the shopping center and heard the gunshots and saw what had happened, made a U-turn at the light and got out of his vehicle and confronted the suspect. The deputy, whose name has not been publicly released, shot and killed Liza Raga at the scene. Fontana police confirmed the deputy's actions prevented further harm, though tragically the two victims had already succumbed to their injuries. Gloria Zamora wasn't just a fitness coach with over 150,000 followers on Instagram.

She used her platform to inspire women to pursue healthy choices, confidence, self-worth. Her life's work was dedicated to empowerment, especially for women navigating motherhood or navigating business and self-care. But behind that public strength, though, was apparently a private struggle. And it's one that ended in a tragic and arguably preventable act of violence. So to break it all down, I want to bring on a special guest. I'm joined once again here on Sidebar by Sergeant Kyle Schoberg. If you don't know who Kyle is, first of all, he's been a fantastic guest that we've had here on Sidebar.

He's actually the co-instructor of the Patrol Survival Tactics Seminar. And he's also the host of Shots Fired, a great podcast with an amazing set behind you, too. I don't know if you redid it, but it looks great there, Kyle. Really good. So happy to see again. Thanks for coming back here on Sidebar. Yeah, thanks for having me, Jesse. Sad story.

Crazy of the ending how this sort of turned out. Yeah. From a tactical standpoint, what's your assessment of, you know, this off-duty deputy's response to a situation like this? Well, you know, it takes a lot to confront somebody who just shot and killed two people in a parking lot. So you got to give credit to the deputy for even stepping up and doing that. You know, fortunately for him, it didn't end tragically, which it could have. And so I give credit to him. He probably saved a lot of other people that night.

Who knows what this guy's intentions were? There are a lot of kids involved in this. And when you're dealing with people's emotions going through divorces, this guy just shot and killed his ex and this guy that she's out to dinner with in a public. parking lot that that tells you a lot what is the training uh that prepares an officer for making a split second decision like this while off duty i mean how do you train officers for this i don't think there is any training off duty i mean the only training that cops get which is very minimal in the first place is everything on duty and so going to the range and things like that and just so everybody knows if you're going to carry an off duty weapon like this deputy was you

do have to get qualified by your agency to even be able to carry that that weapon off duty and so we are trained you know you do have to qualify with these weapons or guns that you carry outside of work and so you know he's just in I don't know if you want to say the wrong place at the right time but if you're gonna take those actions upon yourself to confront somebody you know you do have to understand there could be consequences to that you're not wearing any police insignia you're not wearing body armor anything like that and so oftentimes I like to tell people or or cops be a good witness if you can you know get

license plate numbers whatever you need to do but in a situation like this where a guy just shot and killed two people, you know, that's on, that's a personal choice that I guess you have to make if you want to confront them or not. But this will get treated just like an officer involved shooting would. I mean, it's going to be considered a homicide until justified as a justifiable homicide by the district attorney's office. So he's going to have to go through the same protocols as anybody would had he been on duty. When this unfolds in a public place, like a public parking lot, what factors go into that if you're going to confront a suspect like this? What is the importance of situational awareness? You know, even in an

environment, you have people around. What factors go into this? Oh, you definitely have to be, have good situational awareness. You know, how many people are in this parking lot? If you start firing your gun, what direction are you firing it? Are you firing it towards the restaurant that's full of people? Are there people walking around in the parking lot? I mean, these are all things that you have to consider when confronting somebody like that. And so off duty, on duty, those things have to be taken into consideration anywhere that you're at. Yeah, and when you listen to the allegations here, or you think about the context of this,

if this really is a situation about a domestic violence gone to the worst extreme, what do you take away from that, this level of violence? What are the warning signs that we should be looking out for? Maybe as civilians, maybe as officers, looking into volatile relationships. I mentioned the key word divorce, and we'll talk about this a little bit more. more, but I have to imagine that a lot of violent episodes between spouses or between exes, between romantic partners, this can't be a shock. No, unfortunately, it's not.

And those are one of the most volatile situations that you can get involved in as a police officer going to domestic violence calls. I mean, people's emotions are at an all-time high. And so those are all things that you do got to take into consideration. And these, unfortunately, these things happen all the time. And so things to pay attention to, you know, sometimes it might be. difficult. I've gone to calls or homicides before involving domestic violence situations where there were no red flags or there were no warning signs. Other times you get signs of people stalking the

other individual, leaving them threatening text messages, calling them constantly. All things I would add up to lead you to believe that something violent could happen. And so that's why, you know, we tell people all the time like, hey, try to go seek restraining orders and do all that. But at the end of the day, like those are pieces of paper. And that's not going to stop somebody from doing what this guy did. And so you can only take so much into consideration and to protect yourself. But the reality is, is if someone's going to do something like this, they're going to find an opportunity to do it. By the way, if this happens in a public place, I was covering a case similar to this on sidebar, that church shooting. What do you recommend witnesses to do?

What do you recommend bystanders to do if they're near or somehow involved in a shooting? What do you tell them to do? Oh, man. Well, you're a sitting duck at that. I mean, if you have nothing to defend yourself, you know, I think your best bed would be to run, get cover, hide, call 911 on your cell phone if you can. I mean, dispatchers can triangulate exactly and pinpoint where you're at to try to start getting police en route to where you are. And then more importantly, if you have the opportunity to even do that, try to give the dispatchers a description of what this guy looks like because you could imagine being a cop showing up to a scene like that. And like you brought up the shooting incident at the church. There's going to be people everywhere. You're going to be highly stressed out. You need to know exactly what you're looking for.

And so that's a bad place to be in as a witness or a victim. I mean, there's not a whole lot you can do other than try to save yourself. Now, I mentioned earlier the divorce, right? So what exactly was the decision that Gloria Zamora made in the days leading up to her death? Well, just days before the shooting, Gloria went public about the end of her marriage. And we did some digging and found that she recently appeared on a podcast called Horizon. It's a platform focused on empowerment, healing, personal transformation. And according to the podcast YouTube page, it's, quote, a podcast empowering women to heal,

overcome trauma, and embrace change. Through our community, we strive to inspire women to create a future where they lead with love, confidence, and courage, helping break boundaries and reach new horizons. Well, Gloria Zamora appeared in two episodes of the Horizon podcast, and the first was recorded on June 3rd and the second, just days later on June 16th, so just five days before the tragedy unfolded in that parking lot of the sushi restaurant in Fontana. And in the episode titled, Why My Second Marriage Has Fallen Apart, Zamora opened up with raw honesty.

She spoke about how her fitness journey and a growing presence on social media was becoming her calling and how that focus on career, she said, was creating friction in her second marriage. Now, Zamora never named her husband in the episode, but she made it clear the relationship was unraveling. And jealousy, she said, was part of the reason why. I want you to take a listen to what she shared. I would tell the second marriage, my soon-to-be ex-husband, I would tell him, like, my job itself is already exhausting. So you adding more mentally distrauding stuff, I don't even know how in the hell I take so much. Like, I tell my kids all the time, I don't know how I'm able to be.

be like so resilient and just keep it moving, keep taking all this crap and unfortunately not fall like these other people to where you're not mentally okay. She then revealed when things really started to fall apart. My whole second marriage started falling apart because obviously I'm like dedicating time into fitness and trying to grow something and seeing even the opportunity or even thinking that this can even become something, you know, so people. started getting insecure and not allowing me to thrive in something that I'm just so passionate about, you know? Okay. So I felt like that person was just holding me back. And then came the decision, the moment she chose to walk away. I decided to end my second marriage. And that's when a lot of

the problems started to were bringing me down mentally talking about like, yeah, you can do that. Like, what do you think you are? You think that you're this fitness influencer all of a sudden? Like, you really think you can do that. So it's like, when somebody wants to test me or how do, how do you say, like retar me, that they want to challenge you, right? Don't challenge me, because I'm going to prove you wrong. Zamora also spoke about the emotional toll this was all taking and the strength it took to protect her peace of mind.

She credited her children for helping her to make the choice to leave. He's putting this fear and thinking you're not going to amount to nothing. I mean, I'm the one that's done everything. Yeah, of course. Yeah, you build me, sure. You build me, yes. You know, like without me, you and shit, you know. So thankful for my older kids, because I feel like if they were in the picture,

I think I would still be in that marriage fully, fully unhappy. Because I hadn't been unhappy for a couple years. This is not just the year. This is not just the month. We're talking about years. And in one of the most powerful moments, she offered this message. To put your life into someone else's hands. to where that person is responsible, whether you're happy or not,

that. I'm like, I am not happy in this marriage. So little by little, something just kept telling me, like, where you're feeling, it's right. You're not happy in this marriage. And it's okay to get your shit out of it. So that announcement marked a significant and personal step for Gloria. But it was also one that turned out to maybe, if this is all true, to be the most dangerous. Kyle, back to you.

In your experience, how can public disclosures, like let's say a podcast interview or social media posts, how does that increase the risk to individuals trying to leave allegedly abusive or controlling relationships? Well, I think when you break it down and you talk about his personality, if you're already dealing with somebody who's emotionally really high up there and he is jealous and now you're publicly basically putting. him on blast. I mean, that could have been the straw that broke the camel's back for him on that. I mean, he could have been highly embarrassed by that. Who knows? And I don't know whether or not that was the catalyst for him to go out and do this. I mean his crime to her. But if it was, that's just something you have to be paying attention to. If that's the person you're dealing with, I don't know that it's such a good idea to go on a public podcast and publicly announce that. You know, that that would be my take on it. Is there a period of time that officers look at?

For example, if there's an announcement of separation, if there's an intention to divorce, like the first, I don't know, 24 hours, 48 hours, when a partner may be most vulnerable, or is that something law enforcement looks into? You have to imagine, I mean, we've covered cases before where, unfortunately, separation, divorce, allegations of infidelity, they are motivations for people to commit crimes. Now, sometimes it can happen immediately. Sometimes it can happen months down the road as something transpires, if something grows. But would you say there is a period of time right after there's an announcement,

right after there's a discovery when it's someone's in their most vulnerable position? Yeah, I mean, I think it'd be safe to say, I think right up after the very beginning stages of going through any type of separation or divorce or whatever is going to be the most at a high tension period of time. But who knows, as time goes on, you know, I mean, people start dating other people. I don't know. It sounds like she was out to dinner with this guy. And I don't know what her motivation was with that. If it was just a business partner at date, who knows. But the point is, is I think that all just depends on people's behavior. And that's just something that you have to pay attention to as time goes on, is this person's behavior growing more and

more concerning? Does it seem like they're getting over it? Are they moving on? Are they not moving on? Are they growing more attached to you? All things that you have to pay attention to. And so I don't think there's a definitive timeline of when it's most vital other than obviously the beginning. But as time goes on, you still don't know. How complicated is it if my understanding is police haven't confirmed any prior reports of abuse? What happens then? How does that complicate the mission of law enforcement? Well, usually we'll sit down with victims and ask him, you know, was there any prior signs of abuse? You know, a lot of times women don't report that stuff. And same with men.

And so it's just sitting down with people and trying to get the full scope of what exactly is going on. If they come to you and they want to report something, do want to ask them, what is your prior relationship? Like, was there, is there prior physical abuse? Was there mental abuse? You know, you want to try to paint a full picture of what this relationship was actually about. And so obviously in this circumstance, you can't do that. But if they had the opportunity to sit down with her and figure all this out, those would be all the puzzle pieces that as law enforcement you would try to put together so that you could put a plan in place to help her out, you know,

whether it's a safe house, get her to safety where he doesn't know where she's at, dealing with all of her kids. And speaking of the kids, like a lot of times when these things happen, the kids are targeted also. And so I'm glad to hear that they were not. And maybe that was because the cop in front of this guy in the parking lot and ended it that night. We don't know if his intentions were to actually then cause harm to those kids after shooting her. That is not uncommon. And to be clear, let's talk about that, because Gloria's daughter didn't hold back in the aftermath of all this in a GoFundMe campaign that was launched following this.

Gloria's daughter, Jasmine Zamora, wrote, my mom was seamlessly taken from us. She was murdered by my stepdad, Tomas, and an act of unimaginable violence. She described her mother as a woman of strength and compassion, writing, she was a light in her community. uplifted and inspired countless women reminding them of their worth, their strength, and their potential. She always said, women can do anything they set their minds to, and she lived those words every day. Her courage, kindness, and determination touched the lives of everyone who knew her. And the fundraiser goes on to describe the painful reality that is now faced by Gloria's seven children ranging in ages from eight to 24 who were left without her warmth, her guidance,

her love. Hector Garduno, who was with Gloria that night. also leaves behind a grieving family, a father of four daughters. He was remembered in a separate GoFundMe page as a loving, devoted, and hardworking man that was tragically murdered and gone too soon. His loved ones wrote that his passing has left a hole in our hearts and a void in our lives that can never be filled. And they're now seeking support to help cover funeral costs and care for his children. You know, it was interesting, Kyle.

I host a show called Prime Crime, and we have an episode coming out about domestic violence. and you think about the children who are left behind, and you think about the fact that the children, they're the ones who lose the most out of all this. Yeah, I know you're right. It's extremely sad, and domestic violence situations are always the hardest to deal with, especially when kids are involved.

And so at our agency and a lot of other departments do it, too, we do have domestic violence advocates that ride around with patrol cops, and they respond to nothing but domestic violence calls to try to be an advocate for victims, get them help, get them moving in the right direction to either get out of that situation, get restraining orders, do whatever they need to do to protect themselves. And so I think departments do a great job of trying to provide that level of service to victims of domestic violence. But again,

at the end of the day, I mean, you can't only do so much. And people are going to do what they're going to do. And this is just a all around sad story. I mean, 11 kids, that's a lot of lives impacted. Are there any resources on the part of law enforcement to help families, to help children after a violent incident. You talked about protections that can be put in place for victims or potential victims.

But the people who are left behind, is there anything, law enforcement can do to help these children, help these families? Honestly, out the top of my head, I can't think of a particular organization. I do know, I mean,

I know there's organizations out there that strictly help domestic violence, victims, and children. So, I mean, that would just come down to doing a little bit of research in the area that you live. But, of course, there are advocates It's out there, and there are nonprofit organizations that do help families that are victims of

these types of crimes. By the way, something I didn't mention before, and I just wanted to think about it, this is a tragedy. You have all these children who are left behind. You have the families, the children left mourning the lives of these two people, meant everything to them. But you also wonder if that deputy didn't get involved, if that officer didn't get involved, do you think that the suspected shooter would have engaged in violent episodes against other people nearby? Do we usually see that? So this is more targeted.

You just wonder what could have happened if law enforcement wasn't there at that point. Yeah, that's what I was saying earlier. You know, I am glad that that guy, the deputy was there and that he did, you know, kudos to him for taking it upon himself to do that. You know, he didn't have to. And so I was wondering the same thing. You know, who knows what this guy's intention was. Maybe he was going to go do this in the park salon.

And maybe there was a plan of place to go wherever her kids were and, you know, shoot her kids or who knows, that stuff is not uncommon. for that to happen. And so that's why I said earlier, glad he was there. I'm glad he was able to stop the threat. Do I think he was going to go target people, just random people out in the public? I don't think so. I think that was going to be a planned, targeted incident where he had particular people that he was going to target that night. Kyle Schoberg, thank you, as always coming here on Sidebar, talking about cases like this, really sad, tragic, unfortunate cases like this. And I hope everybody can check out your podcast again. Shots fired. You can see more of Kyle.

can see more of his incredible background but thank you so much really appreciate it all right guys thanks jesse thanks for having me on and that's all we have for you right now here on sidebar everybody thank you so much for joining us and as always please subscribe on youtube apple podcast spotify wherever you get your podcasts i'm jesse weber i'll speak to you next time You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad-free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.