Cape shooter asked officer to watch baby before killing spree

CAPE CORAL, Fla. A man suspected of killing two men during a June 2016 shooting spree asked a police officer to watch his baby hours before the chaos unfolded.

The finding is part of a Cape Coral Police internal affairs investigation into the deadly events of June 5, 2016, which ended with police fatally shooting Moran and left his live-in girlfriend and the baby wounded by gunfire.

Moran asked an officer to watch his 1-year-old son while he ran inside the Circle K at 935 Country Club Blvd., according to the investigation.

He approached the officer’s car and said he needed to drop off a computer inside the Circle K and wanted the officer to watch the baby, who was in his car with the air conditioning on.

The officer said he would keep an eye on the baby but admitted that it seemed “strange” and Moran seemed “nervous,” the investigation says.

Moran bought rifles at a pawn shop the day before he opened fire, saying he needed to protect his family, according to his girlfriend, Maria Rodriguez, who spoke with investigators. He started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there, Rodriguez said.

He got in an argument with Rodriguez the morning of the shootings, she said, and also told police Moran had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She wasn’t sure if he had been taking his medications.

Moran had cocaine, amphetamines and opioids in his system at the time of the shootings, according to a toxicology report.

Rodriguez told police she was angry at herself for failing to realize the extent of Moran’s illnesses, according to the investigation.

Moran gunned down Jeremy C. Taylor, 54, who was on a motorcycle on the 2600 block of Skyline Boulevard, and Sean Strickland, 26, who was working behind the counter at the Circle K at 1603 Cape Coral Parkway W., police said.

Officers located Moran’s vehicle near the 5100 block of Skyline Boulevard and opened fire after he “violently resisted” them, police spokesman Dana Coston said shortly after the shootings.

The officers were cleared of any wrongdoing by the state attorney’s office. They were taken off paid administrative leave earlier this month.