Cape officers won’t face charges from June 2016 shooting

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Christopher Michael Moran, 31

CAPE CORAL, Fla. The Cape Coral police officers involved in the deadly shooting of a man suspected of killing two during a June 2016 shooting spree will not face criminal charges, the state attorney’s office said.

Officers Andrew Miller, John DiGiovanni, Christopher Gugliotta and Robert Reese were justified in their decision to open fire on Christopher Michael Moran, 31, the state attorney’s office said. The shooting took place June 5, 2016, along Skyline Boulevard.

The officers were still on administrative as of earlier this month.

Moran was suspected of killing 54-year-old Jeremy C. Taylor and 26-year-old Sean Strickland and injuring one other person, police said.

Taylor was on a motorcycle on the 2600 block of Skyline Boulevard at about 5:45 p.m. when he was shot in the head. Strickland was working behind the counter at the Circle K at Chiquita Boulevard and Cape Coral Parkway West when he was shot and killed.

The officers shot Moran along the 4900 block of Skyline Boulevard, the state attorney’s office said. Moran’s girlfriend, Maria Rodriguez, and their 13-month-old child were in a red Mazda with Moran when the officers opened fire. Rodriguez and the child were wounded by gunfire but survived.

The officers struck Moran with 12 bullets and grazed him with another, Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas M. Coyne said, according to the state attorney’s office.

Evidence of cocaine, amphetamines and a prescription opioid called buprenorphine were found in Moran’s system, Coyne said.

Police had contact with Moran and Rodriguez earlier on the day of the shooting in connection to domestic issues, the state attorney’s office said.

The Professional Standards Bureau of the Cape Coral Police Department is now investigating the shooting, police said.

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