Cape Coral police exonerated in year-old shooting that left two victims, suspect dead

Michael Braun
The News-Press
Christopher Michael Moran (Credit: LCSO)

The state attorney's office on Wednesday cleared four Cape Coral police officers in the June 2016 shooting of Christopher Moran.

The excessive force was justified, according to the state attorney's office report. Moran, had randomly killed a motorcyclist and a store clerk before he was gunned down.

The report, for the first time officially reported that Moran's girlfriend and year-old son were  in the car and also shot.

The four police officers were put on desk duty after the shooting and will remain doing administrative work until an internal investigation is completed.

The shooting was justified, the report stipulates, because Moran had committed multiple felonies, murder, and aggravated battery, considered capital offenses, and presented a danger to civilians and police.

A response from the Cape Coral Police Department cited the decision by the state attorney's office and said the matter is now being reviewed administratively by the Professional Standards Bureau of the department.

A spokesman for Cape police said there would likely be no comment about the case until the administrative review is completed.

The investigation into the June 5, 2016 shooting described events from an interaction earlier in the day between Cape Coral police, Moran and his girlfriend Maria Rodriguez to the shooting spree and the concluding showdown between police and Moran.

The investigation on the use of force and the death investigation connected to the shootings was conducted by Cape Coral police detective Christine Montesino-Mena. The timeline of events was described in a memorandum to State Attorney Stephen B. Russell by SAO investigator J.S. Purdy.

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The autopsy of Moran found him to have amphetamines, cocaine metabolites (indicates use) and buprenorphine (an opioid medication used to treat opioid addiction) in his system.

Moran died from gunshot wounds, including a shot to the head. Seven of the 12 wounds were significant.

Moran, 31, killed 26-year-old Sean Strickland, a clerk at the Circle K on Cape Coral Parkway and Jeremy Taylor, 54, a motorcyclist on Skyline Boulevard during the killing spree.

Moran began a confrontation with police after the second shooting.

Maria Rodriguez, then 32, and Christopher Moran Jr., Moran's then-13-month-old son, were passengers in his Mazda.

Moran and Rodriguez were involved in a domestic dispute earlier that day and she later told investigators that when officers brought her back home she saw Moran "playing with his rifles."

More:2016 Cape Coral triple-fatal shooting case remains active

She said he later began screaming at her in what she thought was a foreign language and eventually forced her and the infant into his red Mazda after she said he yelled at and threatened to shoot a neighbor. 

Rodriguez said that she knew Moran was delusional at times and heard him say that people were not real. When they ended up at the Circle K he started screaming the top of his lungs, she said. 

"And I was like -- he started killing people. I said 'Babe, calm down. What's wrong with you? You're killing people.'

'Oh that's not a person.' I'm like,' What the (expletive) is wrong with you? You're killing people.' " 

A few minutes later they were at a stoplight next to motorcyclist Taylor when Moran said, "That guy is not human. I will show you." And he shot Taylor in the head.

She said during the final ride with Moran he was screaming and driving fast and commenting about being kidnapped and duct-taped.

Rodriguez told her story to police at the hospital and at first said she remembered very little of what happened. She told police she thought Moran had killed five people.

During the investigation, Rodriguez said she felt like she was being kidnapped and said Moran went "cuckoo."

Rodriguez, treated at Lee Memorial Hospital, suffered three wounds: left knee, lower back and a right thigh wound that caused a broken leg bone. The infant, taken to Tampa General Hospital, suffered three wounds: to his butt, thigh and ankle.

"It is unfortunate that Maria Rodriguez and Christopher Moran Jr. were also shot," Purdy said in his report. "Thankfully, both survived the gunshot wounds."

The confrontation between the four officers and Moran was described in detail.

Officers Andrew Miller, John DiGiovanni, Christopher Gugliotta and Robert Reese came upon Moran's red Mazda parked in a residential driveway about a mile from the second fatal shooting with brake and back-up lights illuminated.

When officers parked near the end of the driveway and DiGiovanni stepped from his cruiser, the report said, Moran's Mazda started backing up and gunfire erupted.

The Mazda hit a tree, the report described and started moving forward as if fleeing. The report said more gunfire erupted.

There were 27 .40 caliber cartridges and 38 .227 caliber rifle cartridges found by the officers' cruisers. A 12-gauge shotgun was found next to Moran's body in the car and two shells were found at the Circle K shooting scene.

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The four officers involved had no body cameras but a "shadow" officer did have one active and captured some of the conversation. The recording evidence had Officer Reese saying "(expletive) gun barrel come out the window." Reese was also heard to say he didn't know there was a baby in the car.

The investigation described what surveillance cameras filmed at the Circle K shooting scene.

Footage showed Moran and Rodriguez getting out of the car at the gas pumps, removing a baby stroller and going into the store. Moran is seen carrying something long wrapped in a reflective sun visor.

The camera films Moran asking for cigarettes and when his debit card is declined pulling the gun and shooting Strickland point-blank. Moran swears and tries to shoot at another clerk but the gun does not discharge.

After chambering another round in the shotgun, Moran fires at a customer, hitting him in the hand.

At this point, Moran chambers another round and, with Rodriguez and the baby, leaves the store.

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