It was with no small amount of grief and pain that Norwalk police had to say the death of Officer Matthew Morelli was, in all probability, self-inflicted.

Police Chief Harry Rilling did, however, stop short of calling Morelli’s death early last Friday a suicide.

"There are still a few things that need to happen before we can get to that point. Officer Morelli was a highly decorated Marine. He was a decorated member of this department and he is entitled to nothing less. We will ensure that we do everything possible to bring this to some sort of conclusion one way or the other."

Officer Morelli’s death has been a delicate subject to report since Friday afternoon, when Norwalk police first said they hadn’t ruled out anything, “including suicide.”
A statement like that requires both reporters and viewers to read between the lines with a degree of sensitivity, because the police were saying, in essence, the officer may have taken his own life. There was no sustained “intense manhunt for a killer.” There was no “outrage” from fellow officers, just profound sadness.

We received emails from viewers who, to put it mildly, were very unhappy with our reporting that suicide had not been ruled out.

I understand.
No one wants to hear of an officer dying in the line of duty.
Sometimes we hear what we want to hear, and see what we want to see. Sometimes the truth really does hurt.

This was one of those times. For everybody.