Police chief: Port St. Lucie fatal shooting was justified use of force
June 15th, 2009 by Ana X. CeronBy ANA X. CERON and DAPHNE DURET
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Manuel Morales
PORT ST. LUCIE — Manuel Morales told police he had a shotgun and after midnight on Sunday he yelled at them to back off. To his family, he said he was going to die that night.
He did.
After receiving a call shortly before 1 a.m. that Morales was armed with a knife and could possibly kill the five other people in his house on Southeast Croquet Street, police asked Manuel to let them inside the back bedroom where he had barricaded himself. He didn’t.
So Officers Matthew Cuba and Albert Riccardi forced open the door and saw Morales pointing straight at them what they believed was a rifle.
Cuba fired his Taser, narrowly missing him before Riccardi fired at the man twice.
It turned out that Morales, 44, had actually been aiming a BB gun. He died a few hours later at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center. His wife was on the phone when he fell to the floor.
During a Monday afternoon press conference, Port St. Lucie Police Chief Donald Shinnamon called the shooting a justified use of force, saying his officers felt they were in imminent danger.
“This is a terrible human tragedy,” Shinnamon said. “A troubled individual set a chain of events into motion that eventually cost him his life.”
Shinnamon said those events began when someone in the house saw Manuel fondling his niece’s 13-year-old girlfriend, who was at the house that night. Manuel was confronted and told police would be called, and he fought back.
Morales’ estranged wife, Sandra Harnois, said he called her and their 13-year-old daughter as police were breaking through the bedroom door.
Their conversation didn’t last long.
Harnois, who said she left Port St. Lucie two years ago because of problems in her marriage and had a restraining order against Morales, declined to discuss the details of that last phone call, but says she places the blame for the shooting on him.
“My daughters keep saying they’re living a nightmare,” Harnois, 51, said from her home in Massachusetts. “It’s a horrible, terrible nightmare and no matter how hard they try they can’t ever wake up.”
Other members of Morales’s family could not be reached for comment.
BB gun recovered from the scene. Photo provided by police.
Police said they are still investigating the claim that Morales had touched the teen.
Morales had had other brushes with law enforcement. According to state criminal records, he had been arrested eight times since 1991. In 2007, Port St. Lucie police jailed him twice on child abuse charges.
And in October, Morales was committed for psychiatric evaluation after he told police he had swallowed 30 sleeping pills and was tired of being alone. He had penned a note to his daughters telling them that he loved them.
“I miss u all really so much that u cant even imagine!!!!” he wrote.
Harnois said her focus now remains on helping her daughters cope with their father’s death.
“It’s a hard, terrible situation,” she said. “They’re going to have to live with this for the rest of their lives.”
Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story.
~ana_ceron@pbpost.com
Tags: Albert Riccardi, Croquet Street, Donald Shinnamon, fatal shooting, Manuel Morales, Matthew Cuba, police chief, Port St. Lucie police, use of force
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June 15th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Is Officer Matthew Cuba stupid having a taser at a gun fight. Officer Albert Riccardi had the right mind set. You don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. Why bring a taser that is a great way to get killed. None of this less leath stuff.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Come into my house and attempt to use lethal force. You’ll be greeted with a 4″ shell of double ought…worthless pigs.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Correct me if I am wrong, but don’t all police issued tasers have a laser sighting on them? The red dot is on your target, you hit your target… PSL Police once again overreacted and say it is justified. Oh and another thing. Didn’t the entire family tell the police there were NO firearms in the house???
June 15th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Sounds to me like the cops aren’t the brightest crayons in the box. Even I can tell the difference between a rifle and a bb gun, and I’m not trained in law enforcement. I hope all cops aren’t as dumb as these were.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
The police did their job well!!I’m happy no victims were hurt.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
If you were not there you should not comment. I bet that all of you idiots that are making negative comments about the police are the same idiots who call them when something in your house goes wrong. So to all you useless idiots dont judge a man till you walked a mile in his shoes.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Of course you call the Super Troopers if something is wrong. You have to or else you can be arrested for that. The police need to feel desired too so it is actually a crime to not call and report a crime.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
No idiot, I wouldn’t call the police if they were the last people on the planet. A home is a person’s sanctuary. You enter that place and use force, you will be met not only with force, but instaneous deadly force in my house. Police put their pants on the same way as everyone else in the morning…the difference is they think because they wear a badge that their word is final. Not in my house. Not ever. The first two are 2 3/4, the next is 3 1/2 double ought buck. Come get some.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
well i think the police were justified in their actions. i understand that you could probably tell that a bb gun is diffrent from an actual gun, well good for you! but these guys were going in and reacting on a seconds worth of time, and didn’t know what they were running into. i don’t know about any of you, but i wouldn’t want that responsability for someones life. everyday these men and women get up kiss there familys goodbye to go out to the streets to protect sometimes the ungrateful citizens. whether it would be a simple fender bender to a serial killer. but everyone hates on the cops until you have a bicycle missing or someone in your family is raped or killed then of course its justifiable!!!!! well i just want to say thank you to those who spend all of their time to serve and protect me and my family!
June 15th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Some of you people show signs of being really quite stupid.
Rik says the cops should have been able to tell it was a BB gun. Oh yeah, Rik? When being wrong could get you shot and killed with a rifle, should it turn out to be real? Maybe the idiot Morales–who had an extensive criminal history (8 ARRESTS?! I’m 37 and have had NONE EVER!)–should have simply not had anything like a weapon in his hands.
Thinkingman says that just because the family swears up and down that there are no guns in the house, that should be all the police need so they can drop their guard and then get surprised when it turns out to be a lie or a mistake. So-called “Thinkingman” would probably tell you that when cops make traffic stops, if there is no indication in the computer that the person has a concealed weapons license, they should just make a fair assumption that the driver couldn’t possibly have a gun on them.
You people amaze me with how stupid you are.
June 16th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Why does anyone waste time to argue with Ben, its obvious that he is very ignorant.
While it sucks that the officers had to escalate to that level of force, they did not have the luxury of having enough time to make a better decition. They acted accordingly and I hope their leadership goes with the same assesment.
June 16th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
They may have reacted acordingly, but they did not need to shoot to kill. A cop should only use deadly force against deadly force, and I doubt that being shot by a bb gun would be deadly.
June 16th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Knock Knock,
Who’s there?
The Port St. Lucie Police dept.
Bang Bang your DEAD!!!!
Let me try to understand????
A Man locked in a bedroom with a knife and possibly a gun but yet unknown or confirmed. “FACT”
So, according to the Police Chief of Port St. Lucie ( AKA Pleasant ville ) his Officers should first demand entry. If not immediately granted by the suspect inside, they should gain entry by force (kick in the door)confront the suspect and demand compliance using less than lethal force and or deadly force. ( If this mans death is justified in the eyes of the Chief, the above must be true?)
Maybe just maybe, Our Law Enforcement professionals could conger up a safer plan for all present and involved in this Domestic type call for service that would benefit the Police, Suspect and Family of the Suspect.
Try this on for size,
One suspect locked in room with a knife and possibly a gun.
Secure the home of all people to a safe place outside the residence as to protect all against any action the suspect might take.
Then call a supervisor for instructions, advising of the current situation with suspect.
Supervisor then calls in SWAT or additional back up to maintain a secure safe environment for all. allowing the expansion of time and options such as a police officer or family member to establish communication and speak to the obviously distrait suspect exploring a peacefuller conclusion.
A man threatened himself, retreated to a bedroom isolating himself from all others threatening to harm others only if they enter his safe space is not a danger to others.
Space Time and Opportunity.
The Space between you and danger.
The Time to make conscious calculated and correct judgment.
The Opportunity to use both the time and space for a positive outcome.
Who closed the space.
Who chose the time.
Who had the opportunity to increase both?
Hindsight is 20/20 but may we all learn from this loss on all sides.
Respectfully,
Nobody
Hooter ville or Pleasant ville, You decide!!!!!!!!!!
June 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Such terse arguments, boy you are dumb, no you are, no you are. Well your stupid. Well your ignorant.
Cops are an extension of a government that is already spun well out of control. Apparently now you can’t even drive an ambulance with a patient inside without getting pulled over, harassed, arrested by some muscle headed pig.
The ignorant people are the ones who allow the cops to strong arm them and force their on them their will. I’ve been stopped by a cop and issued a citation for a) not having insurance. Despite the fact that I’ve been a licensed and INSURED driver for 17 years. I’ve never had a lapse in insurance. Not for a day. I carry my insurance card and gave it to the cop. b) same dickhead cop gave me a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt despite the fact that I was wearing my seatbelt when I was pulled over…and the cop WATCHED me remove my seat belt to get my wallet out of my back pocket.
Cops are worthless. Their philosophy is to target petty crimes in hopes that it DETERS more violent and more serious offenses down the road. Uh…why not just target the serious offenders, wouldn’t that be a better way to stop the serious offenses? Cops propagate your worthless government, they are nothing more than a revenue source to sustain more of your worthless governments. While some may go to work believing they are doing good, they are not their to serve and protect the public. If you believe that, you truly are ignorant.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Nobody-
Nobody wins the award for the day. Apparently the SWAT was busy. And perhaps they were all out of flash bangs. Either way a man is dead. Two bozo cops are still just that, bozo cops.
June 17th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Cops do nothing more than pick up the pieces after a crime has already been commited. They do very little to prevent it. And if you need proof just look at cities like Lake Worth or Riviera Beach. Cities with not enough police on patrol. But then look at Wellington, where everyday I must see 15 to 20 cops while on my way home from work, thus a lower crime rate. Government cares very little for the poorer population, they only really care about the cities where the money lives.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
The psl police are a bunch of barney fyfes. Once again over reacting. They will learn their lesson when the lawsuits come pouring in. In the last year alone, these morans have conducted illegal searches, arrest without search warrants etc etc etc. Now we have them shooting a guy that was tasered. hmmm if 1 is getting a good dose of voltage, how does he still hold onto a gun???? eh, in realty I guess its good, after the lawsuits there will be less morans with badges… can you idiots spell .. laid off due to lawsuit awards