Officer cleared in fatal shooting

Officer cleared in fatal shooting

Bliss Moreau justified in shooting Mark Daniels, state attorney finds

MARIANNA — A police officer who killed a man who rammed his patrol car was justified, the state attorney told the chief of police Wednesday.

A state investigation “would lead any reasonable person to conclude that your officer’s actions were necessitated by the situation with which he was faced,” State Attorney Glenn Hess wrote in a letter to Marianna Police Chief Hayes Baggett.

Mark Anthony Daniels, 31, of Vernon, was shot and killed Sept. 4 after police said he drove away from a traffic stop, rammed his Chevy Suburban into a police cruiser and backed toward police officer Bliss Moreau, who was kneeling on the ground with his Glock pistol drawn.

Investigators found four shell casings and five projectiles at the scene. There were two bullet holes in the Suburban’s left rear tire and three in the back of the SUV.

One bullet’s trajectory was through the back window, through a rear seat, through the driver’s seat, through Daniels and into the steering wheel, according to a state Department of Law Enforcement report.

Witnesses, including officers and bystanders, said Daniels told another officer at the traffic stop that he wasn’t going to jail, then accelerated.

The report noted Daniels had cocaine in his system and an extensive criminal history.