Name of officer in shooting released

Jordan T. Modicue's blood still stains Mill Street outside the Main Street Bar and the Cape Girardeau police officer who shot Modicue four times remained on administrative leave Monday.

Officer Joseph "Joey" Hann, whose name was released Monday afternoon by the Cape Girardeau Police Department, will stay on paid leave until an investigation into the shooting is complete, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, department spokesman. The investigation is being led by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, but a separate, internal investigation is also being conducted by the department, Hovis said.

"We will do our own investigation into anything we have here for transparency reasons regardless of what comes out of this, which we think will show everything is OK here," he said.

Hann, 32, has been a Cape Girardeau officer since Dec. 11, 2006, when he joined the force from the Scott City Police Department. Hann is on leave with pay "until the Highway Patrol completes the investigation and confers with Morley" Swingle, the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, Hovis said.

The highway patrol, as an independent agency, will help reassure the public that nothing is being covered up in the investigation, Hovis said. "Anyone with concerns can rest assured this is not just the Cape PD saying this," he said.

Responding to the bar

Modicue, 20, of Tamms, Ill., was attending an event advertised as "Deja Vu A Night of Pure Crunkness," produced by St. Louis-based Piper Nation Entertainment LLC when he was shot about 1 a.m. Saturday.

Officer Joesph Hann

Hann and other officers responded to the Main Street Bar, also known as the Copa, at 701 N. Main St., when they observed a fight outside the establishment while assisting with an emergency medical call on North Spanish Street, Hovis said. "They see a fight. As they are getting closer to the disturbance, they see a man point the gun at the person he had been fighting with."

After commanding Modicue to drop the weapon several times, Hann fired, striking Modicue four times, Hovis said. Two bullets struck his lower abdomen, one struck his groin and another hit him in the leg near the knee, Hovis said.

The gun Modicue carried was actually an air-powered Daisy pistol capable of firing BBs or pellets. It is in police custody, where it is being tested for DNA residue, Hovis said.

Hovis on Monday could not confirm whether Modicue actually heard the order to drop his weapon. Investigators have not been able to question Modicue while he is undergoing treatment at a St. Louis hospital.

Reached at her home, Modicue's mother, Verdetta Modicue, said little. "I don't want to give any statement at this time," she said. "I have to get back to my son."

She did not take the time to answer questions about her son's condition.

Role of song

Calls to numbers listed on Piper Nation's website were not returned. But an announcer who was at the club working for Piper Naton, who would only give his name as DJ Spec, said he was playing "I Put On," by rapper Young Jeezy when the fight occurred outside the bar.

An employee of the bar asked him why he was playing the song, which DJ Spec said is considered a "hood anthem." The employee said fights break out every time the song is played.

"There was no fight inside the bar," DJ Spec said.

DJ Spec, who said he has a military background, provided first aid to Modicue after he was shot, as did two women, one an EMT and another a nurse, while police sought to quiet the crowd so an ambulance crew could work.

"Police understand you could not just let the ambulance come in," he said.

DJ Spec said he did not see Modicue holding any weapon.

The Main Street Bar is owned by Rick Werner. The bar was shut down for 20 days earlier this year for liquor license violations, including a 15-day suspension for a Sept. 7, 2007, incident that included an assault and shots being fired during a private party. Officers pushed their way through fleeing crowds to find a bar with overturned tables and chairs. Three people were treated at area hospitals.

At the time of the suspension, Peter Lobdell, supervisor of the state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control said Werner's attorney told the division that rival gangs, attending a private party, started fighting when a particular song was played by the announcer. Werner promised, through his attorney, to restrict future parties to Southeast Missouri State University students with identification.

DJ Spec said he was at the Sept. 7, 2007, party but had received no instructions limiting his choice of music either at that time or during the event over the weekend. Werner could not be reached for comment immediately Monday afternoon.

Calls to the number listed on a poster advertising the Friday event were not returned Monday.

Two women reported being assaulted outside the bar while taking cover when the shots were fired Saturday morning, Hovis said. The two women, one of whom reported being struck with an unknown object and another who reported being cut, identified a potential suspect in the assault, Hovis said. The names of the women and their suspected assailant are not being released pending further investigation, he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126