Crime & Safety
Sheriff's Deputies Who Shot Windsor Man Named, Details Emerge
Attacker had at least two run-ins with Windsor Police in the hours before Sunday morning's activity at the Town Green Starbucks.
By Bay City News Service
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office today identified the two deputies involved in the fatal shooting of a domestic violence suspect in Windsor on Saturday morning.
The officers are Donald Fletcher and Andrew Cash, who have 10 and 14 years' experience, respectively, according to the sheriff's office. Both are on paid administrative leave.
The deputies, who are assigned to the Windsor Police Department, shot 48-year-old Urbano Moreno Morales, a resident of the Santa Rosa area, after he stabbed a 60-year-old woman in front of the Starbucks store on the Windsor Town Green at about 7:30 a.m.
The victim is Morales' former romantic partner, and the couple's adult son works at the Starbucks, according to the sheriff's office.
Morales was stabbing himself as he fled the scene after the attack and was pursued by the two deputies, according to Santa Rosa police, who are investigating the incident. The deputies held Morales at gunpoint near the Windsor police station, and ordered him in English and Spanish to drop the knife, Santa Rosa police Capt. Craig Schwartz said.
One of the deputies shot Morales with a Taser, which had no effect, and they then fired their handguns when Morales allegedly charged at them, Schwartz said. He died at the scene.
Authorities have not said how many times Morales was shot. Results of Morales' autopsy are expected to be released today.
Meanwhile the stabbing victim, who has not been formally identified, has been released from the hospital. But the attack followed a series of confrontations between Morales and the woman, several of which involved law enforcement.
Assistant Sonoma County Sheriff Lorenzo Duenas said Morales was at the stabbing victim's home in northeast Windsor, where he lived until sometime last month, late Friday night and tried to enter her house.
He was arrested for being drunk in public and taken to the county jail, but was released around 4 a.m. Saturday, Morales then returned to the woman's house to retrieve his car an hour later, at 5 a.m., and again tried to get into the house, Duenas said.
Windsor police were called and deputies gave Morales a ride to a relative's home in the Santa Rosa area, Duenas said. Authorities have not said how Morales returned to Windsor the third time, where he again encountered the victim at about 7:30 a.m.
