OfficerBlueWesterville, OH – Westerville Police Chief Joe Morbitzer spoke on Sunday about the murder of Westerville Officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli, which occurred on Saturday, saying that people are threatening the department.
The clearly distraught chief started speaking to the media, talking about how other departments from all over the area would be handling calls in Westerville so the department could grieve.
He then went into the ugly side of what has been going on since the officers were murdered.
“The one thing I do want to address in a situation like this – it’s even hard to talk about this,” Chief Morbitzer started. “We should be honoring these two officers right now, not illicitly trying to profit off the officers’ deaths. And we’ve seen fake GoFundMe pages established already. We have people calling our radio room, screaming threats, obscenities, and vulgarities at our radio techs.”
“And quite frankly there’s a special place in hell for those people,” the chief finished. “And my wish is that it comes very soon.”
The only official GoFundMe page for the officers’ families has been created by the local FOP, and is AT THIS LINK. 100% of the proceeds will go to the families of the murdered heroes.
Westerville Officer Eric Joering, 39, and Officer Anthony Morelli, 54, were murdered on Saturday after responding to a call.
The incident happened at around 11:30 a.m. when officers were dispatched to a house in the 300 block of Crosswind Drive where a crying female called 911 and disconnected.
When the officers arrived, the suspect opened fire on them, hitting them both, according to WCMH.
Officer Joering was killed on scene. Officer Morelli was transported to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The officers were able to return fire and wound the suspect, who was later identified as 30-year-old Quentin Smith. The last update on his condition was Saturday when a Westerville city spokesman said he was in critical condition, according to Chicago Tribune.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said that he would pursue the death penalty for Smith, if he survives his injuries.
You can see the video of Chief Morbitzer addressing the media below: