SBPD Explorer Post 911

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A 20-year-old participant in a police apprenticeship program has died from a gunshot wound he suffered while trying to stop a robbery.

Gerald Rabon, who was a Lee County Sheriff’s Department Explorer, was shot in the head while struggling with two robbery suspects at a gas station last week. He died Friday while receiving treatment at Lee Memorial Hospital.

“My son was a good kid. He should not have died the way he did,” said Gail Rabon, choking back tears. She and her late husband adopted Rabon when he was 10. Gail Rabon described her son’s biological father as a career criminal and said her son decided to take a different path.

“He made the right choices in his life,” Gail Rabon said.

The sheriff’s department planned to seek a murder charge against the suspects, Iris Moreland, 27, and Chad Moreland, 24, who is accused of firing the shot that hit Rabon. They currently face a robbery charge.

The Explorer program, like many across the country, seeks to teach teenagers and young adults about law enforcement.

“I just felt a pit in my stomach when I saw that (sheriff’s) star and his identification card at the hospital that night,” said Sheriff Mike Scott. “He was a good kid. He really seemed to gravitate toward law enforcement. I think he just liked the whole idea of being there for others.”

Rudy Lampron, a neighbor, said he was not surprised Rabon would struggle with a gunman.

“He was that kind of kid,” Lampron said. “He was always looking to do the right thing.”

posted by South Bend Police Department  # 11:25 AM