Wife challenges police account of shooting that killed her husband

Holed up in a neighbor's basement with one bloodied son in paramedics' hands and the other back home in the care of her armed husband, Jennifer Moreno heard the single rifle shot that would eventually end her husband's life.

Daniel Moreno, 28, died early Wednesday morning from injuries sustained late Sunday night in what police say was a shootout at his home in Arlington Heights.

He was pronounced dead at 1:22 a.m. Wednesday at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Cook County Medical Examiner's Office officials said. A spokesman said Moreno was hit in the right eye or back of the head by a bullet.

Police say the standoff began at 11:47 p.m. Sunday after they learned of a domestic disturbance at his home in the 400 block of West Palatine Road. Police said Moreno was shot once in self-defense after he shot at police at least twice from inside the home.

Jennifer Moreno, reached briefly Wednesday, is disputing authorities' account of the shooting, but has not given details.

"The police are defending themselves, which is fine," she said. "But the story they're giving is 110 percent false."

She said she's in the process of consulting with attorneys and can't say more about the incident on their advice.

Her next-door neighbor, though, did offer a riveting account.

Amie Hartnett said she was watching television and working on the computer when Jennifer Moreno rang her doorbell with son in tow.

"When I answered, she said, 'Call the police. Call the police. My husband, my husband'," said Hartnett.

The boy, 9, was crying. Dressed in shorts and without a shirt, he had blood splattered all over his back.

"I ushered them into the house, and told her to call 911 from my kitchen phone while I cleaned off the son's wound with a washcloth."

Hartnett saw a quarter-inch cut on the back of the boy's head. He told her his parents had been arguing and he had mouthed off to his father who pushed him. The boy said he bumped his head on the back of a chair.

When police arrived, the boy was taken away by paramedics and Jennifer Moreno and Hartnett were sent into the basement by police and told to turn off all lights.

Minutes later, the women heard a flurry of activity outside and then an officer returned to the basement and turned on the lights, Hartnett said.

"(He) asked Mrs. Moreno if any weapons were in the home and she said, 'No. No guns, only a pellet (BB) gun'," Hartnett said.

A short time later, "We heard a loud noise and looked at each other," Hartnett said. "She said to me, 'What was that?' And I replied, well, maybe it's a warning shot."

Shortly after, two officers holding rifles pounded on Hartnett's master bathroom window asking for Jennifer Moreno. With Hartnett's help, the officers got her out through the window and escorted her away. Exiting through either of two doors would have exposed her to the line of fire, police told them.

Arlington Heights police Commander Kenneth Galinski said Wednesday the officers first on the scene saw Daniel Moreno inside with a handgun. They retreated and called for backup.

Police later saw muzzle flashes and heard pops from inside the house, he said.

Then Daniel Moreno told responding officers at the back of the house, "I see you there," before firing at least one shot at them, according to Galinski.

At that point, one officer fired one return shot, but wasn't sure he'd hit Moreno.

Galinski said Moreno was leaning out the window, and the officer's bullet went through the window frame before striking him in the right eye.

Galinski said police are certain Moreno shot at them at least once, though neighbors Hartnett and Rich Wolchuk, who lives on the other side of the Moreno house, both reported only hearing one shot fired during the incident.

While the standoff lasted about 20 minutes, it was at least an hour by the time police called in the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System Emergency Services Team. They stuck a video camera into the house and saw that Daniel Moreno had been hit.

Officers then entered the house and Daniel Moreno was taken to the hospital.

Police later recovered a handgun, though Galinski declined to say when or how Moreno obtained it.

Galinski doesn't know what the Morenos were arguing about before their son was hurt, but said Jennifer Moreno told police they had been at a wedding earlier where her husband drank heavily.

"She did admit he consumed an extraordinary amount of alcohol that night and that they got into an argument," Galinski said. "I don't know what his case was, but there are angry drunks out there that can get nasty and violent."

The 9-year-old boy was treated for a cut on his head that required stitches. A 1-year-old child that remained inside the home during the shooting was not injured.

Moreno had several misdemeanor arrests over the years. He received probation in 2000 when he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of an unknown nature.

None of those arrests were in Arlington Heights, but it is not known where they occurred. Moreno previously lived in Chicago and in River Grove.

Jennifer Moreno said her husband of 10 years was just a teenager at the time of those other arrests, and described him as a family man who insisted she be a stay-at-home mom so he could provide for the family as a warehouse manager and driver.

"He said, 'I will provide for you no matter what,'" Jennifer Moreno said. "He worked so hard."

He was passionate about roller skating and loved playing baseball and basketball with their 9-year-old son, who she said is involved in every sport imaginable because of his father.

Neighbors were excited the young family began renting the house earlier this summer, noting they had already fixed up the front with shrubs and made the backyard kid-friendly with a small pool.

Hartnett said she saw the Morenos earlier Sunday, dressed for the wedding.

"This is a man I saw everyday coming home from work from a physical labor job," Hartnett said. "We (neighbors) were very thrilled when this nice, stable, young family moved in."

Following protocol, the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit is investigating the case. The results likely won't be available for a week or more, Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Isaiah Vega said Tuesday.

In the meantime, the officer who shot Moreno is on paid administrative leave and is ordered to seek counseling, which doesn't mean wrongdoing was involved on his part.

Galinski said the officer was shooting to defend himself and that police are trained to "eliminate the threat" during a deadly force confrontation.

"We are traumatized about this," Galinski said, noting the department's last shooting took place in 1978. "It's horrible. Nobody wants to see this."

• Daily Herald staff writers Lee Filas and Eric Peterson contributed to this report.

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<li><a href="/story/?id=397916">Arlington Heights man shot during armed standoff <span class="date"> [08/02/10]</span></a></li>

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