{"id":30328,"date":"2023-11-30T20:50:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T03:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-details-emerge-in-fatal-shooting-of-cortez-police-officer\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:17:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:17:39","slug":"new-details-emerge-in-fatal-shooting-of-cortez-police-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-details-emerge-in-fatal-shooting-of-cortez-police-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"New details emerge in fatal shooting of Cortez police officer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Vernon
Vernon Knuckles, chief of the Cortez Police Department, leads a news conference Thursday with updates about the fatal shooting of his officer, Sgt. Michael Moran. Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin, right, and Colorado State Patrol Maj. Brett Williams look on. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

CORTEZ \u2013 Less than 24 hours after Sgt. Michael Moran was fatally shot in the line of duty, Cortez Police Chief Vernon Knuckles called it a \u201csenseless and somber day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law enforcement released new details about Wednesday\u2019s shooting during a news conference Thursday morning in front of the Cortez Police Department, where flags flew at half-staff and about 100 people gathered for an update.<\/p>\n

Police have not yet identified the male suspect, who died in a shootout with police.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Cortez Police Department held a news conference Thursday in front of the Cortez Police Department regarding the fatal shooting of Cortez Police Department officer Sgt. Michael Moran. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The roadside killing occurred during a routine traffic stop about 11:25 a.m. Wednesday on South Broadway (U.S. Highway 160\/491), across from the Handy Mart in southwest Cortez.<\/p>\n

Knuckles said the traffic stop was initiated based on a reckless driving complaint.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring that traffic stop, the suspect fired on officer Moran striking him,\u201d Knuckles said.<\/p>\n

\"Ethan
Ethan Summa of Towaoc, who met Sgt. Michael Moran through the Cortez Police Citizens Academy, said he was a nice guy during a news conference Thursday in front of the Cortez Police Department. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Steve
Steve Nowlin, right, Montezuma County sheriff, answers questions during a news conference Thursday regarding the fatal shooting of Cortez Police Department officer Sgt. Michael Moran. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Officers with the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office and Cortez Police Department located the suspect a short time later at Aces Storage, less than 1\u00bd miles from the site of the traffic stop where Moran was shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe suspect engaged officers, officers fired back and eliminated the suspect at that time,\u201d Knuckles said.<\/p>\n

Sheriff Steve Nowlin said the suspect was located and killed \u201cwithin a matter of minutes\u201d of the traffic stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perpetrator involved in the shooting of Sgt. Moran was located and engaged in a second shooting with a deputy from the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office and an officer with the Cortez Police Department,\u201d Nowlin said.<\/p>\n

Moran was taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries.<\/p>\n

Cortez police spokeswoman Kelly Codner said she is unaware if any officers in volved in Wednesday\u2019s shooting were placed on paid administrative leave. Officers are typically placed on paid leave or \u201cno-contact assignment\u201d pending officer-involved shooting investigations, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement declined to describe a motive for the shooting, whether the transportation of drugs played a role, whether law enforcement had any prior contact with the suspect or say how many guns were involved.<\/p>\n

They also declined to talk about Moran.<\/p>\n

\"Shawn
Shawn McConnell hands flowers to Cortez Police Department Chief Vernon Knuckles on Thursday after a news conference in front of the police department regarding the fatal shooting of Cortez Police Department Sgt. Michael Moran. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The fatal shooting of Cortez Police Department officer Sgt. Michael Moran happened across from the Handy Mart on South Broadway on Wednesday. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Moran\"
Moran<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In social media posts, the police department said Moran will be remembered for his dedication and sense of humor. He served for nine years with the U.S. Marines, completing two tours in Iraq. He joined the Cortez Police Department in 2012.<\/p>\n

He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a K-9 officer in 2016 before his dog, Otto, retired in 2020. Otto died about one month ago, according to a Montezuma County spokeswoman.<\/p>\n

Moran had two daughters and many family and friends, according to the police department\u2019s Facebook post.<\/p>\n

Tom Stokley, owner of the Handy Mart gas station, across the street from where the shooting took place, said Moran was a regular customer and well known in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a nice guy,\u201d said Stokley\u2019s son, Brian Stokley.<\/p>\n

Tom Stokley didn\u2019t witness the shooting, but said he has learned some details from officers and acquaintances in the department.<\/p>\n

The officer was shot in the upper torso, he said, pointing to his left shoulder.<\/p>\n

Moran also had a female passenger in his patrol vehicle, someone who was looking to become a dispatcher and was apparently doing a ride-along, Stokley said.<\/p>\n

\"Flowers
Flowers placed around a Cortez Police Department cruiser Thursday at the Cortez Police Department. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe cop had a girl riding along with him who is becoming a dispatcher,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s been here with the police department. She was sitting in the car, so she was the first to get to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the Cortez Police Department could not immediately confirm information about the person who was with Moran.<\/p>\n

The suspect also had a woman in his passenger seat, Stokley said.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement clarified Thursday that only the male driver was a suspect in the case. His passenger was detained briefly and later released.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not have any suspects to look for,\u201d Nowlin said. \u201cThe community is safe, and this is what our priority was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Flowers
Flowers placed on a fence Thursday at the site of a fatal shooting of Cortez Police Department officer, Sgt. Michael Moran. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Handy Mart remained open but was essentially shut down for about seven hours, from 3:15 to 10:15 p.m., after law enforcement rerouted traffic around the scene of the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is very, very sad,\u201d Stokley said. \u201cHe (Moran) was well-known. He was a regular customer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knuckles thanked the Sheriff\u2019s Office and Colorado State Patrol for their assistance in bringing a quick resolution to Wednesday\u2019s events. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is overseeing the investigation, with the assistance of the 6th and 22nd judicial districts.<\/p>\n

The Cortez Police Department is working with the Fallen Heroes Foundation to set up a fund if members of the public want to donate money to help Moran\u2019s family. He cautioned people not to donate to other social media funds that may not have a direct link with Moran\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

A candlelight vigil is being organized for 5 p.m. Thursday in front of the Cortez Police Department at 608 N. Park St.<\/p>\n

shane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

suspect was briefly detained but has been released<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,52,51],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-law-enforcement","tag-police"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81044,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30328\/revisions\/81044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30328"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}