“We are not treating this as an officer-involved shooting incident,” Modesto Police Department spokesman Lt. Rick Armendariz told sacremento.cbs.local.com back in July. “We are treating it as a shooting and it just happens to involve an off-duty federal officer.” The shooter: Defense Logistics Agency officer Robert Anthony Moreno (above). The victim: Daryl Chargualaf, Moreno’s colleague, also a federal officer. The two men got into a bar fight. Not with each other, apparently. Chargualaf “appears to have been accidentally shot” (as opposed to Moreno accidentally shooting) whilst facing a common foe. And so, some two months later . . .

Robert Anthony Moreno, a 30-year-old resident of Hollister, was arrested Friday by Modesto police homicide investigators on one count of murder and one count of attempted murder.

He was brought back to Modesto and booked into the Stanislaus County Main Jail. Police say the incident began as a bar fight [at O’Malley’s Irish Pub] that spilled into a Modesto strip mall parking lot.

The off-duty federal officer told police he was acting in self-defense.

Maybe so. Even so . . .

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13 COMMENTS

  2. Stupid people doing stupid things in stupid places. If you’re packing stay away from booze and places that featured boozed up people.

  4. Who in their right mind would needlessly carry in a bar? Even if your drinking lemon and seltzer clean, your in a very deep hole if your involved in a DGU situation. Injecting a gun into a possibly unstable environment is asking for trouble. All a prosecutor has to ask is 1 Did you know liquor and beer were served in the (fill in the blank)? 2 Did you think there might be people who would have had too much to drink in (same blank)? 3 Have you ever heard of a bar fight? I’m in no way for gun free zones, but personally, you couldn’t drag me into bar if I was carrying. And I LOVE cold frosty beer.

    • Your logic is impeccable. If I am ever at a bar and some guy is getting curb stomped by a group of animals or a quarterback’s entourage is dragging some girl into the bathroom, I am sure that I will be happy that I left my gun at home.

  5. I wonder if we will hear from Mikey on this. According to him, shooting someone during a bar fight is behavior to be expected of civilians but never police officers.

    Sammy, I’m bothered by your logic. What I hear is, “Even though bars are so dangerous that you may need a gun to protect yourself, you should’t carry there.” Suppose a mean, out-of-control drunk comes at you with a broken bottle. Does it matter whether you stop him from carving your face by shooting him, kicking him in the crotch and face, or busting his head with a pool cue? Even though it’s good advice to avoid situations where you are likely to be attacked, failure to do so doesn’t require you to renounce your right to self defense. That way leads to, “You got mugged because you dress well” or “You were car jacked because you have a nice vehicle” or “Your sister got raped because she is pretty”.

  6. Hmmm. I agree that simply entering a building should not remove a citizens right to self defence.
    But on the other side of the coin, I am a firm believer that alcohol and firearms don’t mix.

    This is not to say I never drink- but I never drink while carrying. And since I pretty much never leave the house without carrying, this means I, personally, avoid bars- and do what drinking I do at home.
    As much as I want to simply say “don’t carry at a bar”, it’s not that simple- *I* want to carry every where *I* go, why should I try to stop you?
    So for me, following the avoid “stupid people,places,things” I don’t go into bars. People drink, and some to excess, and do stupid things. They in essence become stupid people. Other “people” prey on intoxicated individuals outside of bars, and might go for me. Sounds like a stupid place.

    • Since I live in Wisconsin, though, everywhere is a bar. I just stay home or go to the range.

      Happy shooting, dv

  9. A gunfight with multiple shooters (where it’s not just one bad guy and one good guy) is probably one of the most confusing and deadliest things out there as far as self-defense goes. Best to be avoided if at all possible.

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