Murder Prozac 29/01/1999 Texas Policeman's Son Kills Two Border Agents Summary:

Second from last paragraph reads:  "Officer Moore also told investigators that his son was depressed and was taking the antidepressant Prozac."

Third paragraph reads:  "Border Patrol Agents Susan Rodriguez and Ricardo Salinas died July 7 after Ernest Moore, son of Officer R.D. Moore, shot them in a field with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. The gun is similar to a military M-16."

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Couple angry that rifle they wanted destroyed was used to kill
Police issued weapon to officer, whose son fatally shot 2 border agents
The Dallas Morning News
January 29, 1999
Author: Associated Press
Estimated printed pages: 2
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A Harlingen couple who donated an assault-style rifle to police for destruction are angry about where the weapon ended up.
Harlingen police issued the gun to an officer, whose son used it to kill two U.S. Border Patrol agents.

The couple's reaction came out for the first time in a new Texas Ranger report, details of which appeared in Thursday's Valley Morning Star.

Border Patrol Agents Susan Rodriguez and Ricardo Salinas died July 7 after Ernest Moore, son of Officer R.D. Moore, shot them in a field with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. The gun is similar to a military M-16.

The report showed that the agents never had time to react to the bullets - they never pulled their weapons from the holsters. Ernest Moore died after other officers shot him.

The agents were among the officers helping Cameron County deputies track down Mr. Moore, a suspect in the killing of a mother and daughter at a Rio Hondo home where his ex-girlfriend was staying.

Thomas and Sylvia Pirtle, who owned the AR-15, were angry to learn someone used their weapon to kill the border agents.

They gave the rifle and a 9 mm pistol to Harlingen Police Department four years ago after a rash of burglaries in their neighborhood.

"I was afraid someone would break into our house," Mrs. Pirtle said. "It made me nervous to have the guns around."

She requested that both weapons be destroyed. Instead, Officer Moore received the rifle.

"It's very upsetting," Mrs. Pirtle told the newspaper. "If they would have told me they were putting it back into service, I would've taken the guns back. But they didn't give me that option."

According to the report, Officer Moore said he kept the rifle in his safe for about two weeks before the murders, contradicting earlier comments from Harlingen police that the detective carried it with him while on patrol and locked it in his gun safe at home overnight.

The 42-page Ranger report, prepared by Sgt. Rodolfo C. Jaramillo on July 26, also said the MAC-90 semiautomatic rifle that Mr. Moore used to kill Margarita Flores and Delia Morin at their Rio Hondo home was registered to Harlingen Police Capt. Joe Vasquez.

Capt. Vasquez, who assigned the AR-15 to Officer Moore, told investigators that he sold the MAC-90 to the officer in September 1997. He said Officer Moore bought it with his son's money.

Capt. Vasquez also told the Texas Rangers he verbally assigned the AR-15 to Officer Moore to carry in his vehicle, but the department required no documentation.

Mrs. Pirtle told the newspaper the department required no paperwork for gun donations, either.

"I had to ask for a receipt," she said. "They weren't going to give me one."

Officer Moore also told the Texas Rangers he "had not qualified with the weapon, that there was no department policy requiring him to do so."

The night before the killings, Mr. Moore attended a party where he snorted cocaine and drank beer, the report states. He also spoke to his ex-girlfriend Julie Cox before the killings and told a friend he was upset that Ms. Cox was seeing other men. Officer Moore also told investigators that his son was depressed and was taking the antidepressant Prozac.

Families of the slain Border Patrol agents have sued the city of Harlingen, former Harlingen Police Chief Jim Scheopner and Officer Moore for $10 million in each of two wrongful death lawsuits.
Edition:  STATE
Section:  NEWS
Page:  19A
Dateline:  HARLINGEN, Texas
Record Number:  4028224