There has been a lot of speculation about the shooting of Vivian attorney John Morneau. Miller County Coroner Eddie Hawkins Jr first ruled that Morneau was shot in the back by a Miller County Deputy Sheriff.
He has now changed his story to say that Morneau was shot in the chest.
Hawkins would not go into specifics Thursday about why that was done, except to say there was a mistake.
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In the initial post about this, I questioned why Morneau was served a misdemeanor warrant in the woods by a Deputy Sheriff and Wildlife and Fisheries officers, and not served at his home or office.
For that matter, why wasn’t he called and told about the warrants and asked to come in and take care of them.
Now even more questions have arisen. How can he have been shot in the back, and two weeks later shot in the chest?
This just isn't right, and hasn't seemed right from the beginning. To put it bluntly, I do not believe for a minute that John Morneau would pull a weapon on someone whom he knew to be law enforcement officers.
The attorney for the Morneau family, Dan Keele, said "We do not think this is simply a case of a justified law enforcement shooting. The persons involved in the planning and execution of misdemeanor warrants for John Morneau have a lot of explaining to do as to why they set up a Bonnie and Clyde felony situation, when John could have simply been called in (and told), 'John, come on down."
Arkansas State Police will send their findings to Miller County's prosecuting attorney.
Yeah Jim, from the first report of this, the sniff test failed. Now even more so.
ReplyDeleteNone of it makes sense. I guess (hope) the truth will come out, and speculating is not a good idea. But, I just have a feeling that somebody really wanted Morneau out of the picture.
I guess (hope) we'll see.
It is not uncommon for an officer involved shooting to have the suspect shot in the back, do some research. He pulled out a gun and got shot better him than the officer. I know hes got alot of friends, looks like someone should have told him not to point his guns at people.
ReplyDeleteIt's not comforting to know police often shoot people in the back. It certainly wasn't justified. John Morneau was a 71 year old attorney. He was used to being served papers. He never shot anyone and certainly wouldn't have shot anyone over the papers that needed to be delivered.
DeleteJohn Morneau was lured into a hunting area where people (not just Morneau) are expected to have guns. In 71 years, John Morneau never killed anyone. How many had those officers killed before that day? He was hard of hearing and he was likely startled by men with guns in an area where he had previously been assaulted.
John Morneau was a quick draw artist. He could pull a gun from his holster in a split second. Yet, he didn't kill anyone that day just like every other day in his life. He didn't even fire one bullet.
This is an obvious case of gross incompetence followed by a cover-up. How can we trust law enforcement to protect us when things like this happen over and over again?
MY NAME IS ROBIN MORNEAU. I AM THE OLDEST DAUGHTER OF THE LATE JOHN B MORNEAU. I WANT TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT MY FATHER SO THAT THERE IS NO SPECULATION ON ANYONES PART WHO MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN HIM!! FIRST AND FOREMOST...MY FATHER RESPECTED THE LAW TO THE GREATEST EXTENT AND WOULD'VE NEVER EVER POINTED HIS FIREARM AT AN OFFICER OR ANYONE ELSE. I WAS TAUGHT BY HIM TO NEVER EVER POINT A GUN AT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING....EVER! MY FATHER WAS A GOOD MAN AND A WONDERFUL FATHER. HOW DOES A CORONOR MAKE A MISTAKE ON WHETHER SOMEONE WAS SHOT IN THE BACK OR IN THE CHEST. MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS DON'T MAKE MISTAKES LIKE THIS. IT JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN. HE WAS A GOD FEARING MAN AND VERY DEVOTED IN EVERY ASPECT OF HIS JOB AND HIS FAMILY. HE WOULD'VE NEVER DONE WHAT THESE OFFICERS ARE SAYING THAT HE DID. I KNOW MY OWN FATHER AND I KNOW WHAT HE IS AND ISN'T CAPABLE OF. HE WOULD'VE NEVER EVER PUT HIMSELF OR ANYONE ELSE IN A POSITION TO BE SHOT. HE WOULD'VE DONE WHAT WAS RIGHT LIKE HE HAS BEEN DOING ALL MY LIFE. THE OFFICER THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY FATHERS DEATH HAS ALOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO NOT ONLY TO HIS FAMILY BUT TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM. THERE IS DEFINATELY SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT THE SO CALLED MISTAKES THAT THEY SAY HAS HAPPENED IN MY FATHERS CASE AND AS A FAMILY WE INTEND TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. GOD ALWAYS ALWAYS HAS THE LAST WORD.
ReplyDeleteI have wondered about this Robin, but haven't heard any follow-up. Please keep us updated on things.
ReplyDeleteI am really sorry for your loss. I know the whole family misses your Dad.