ATWATER - The son of former Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II was found fatally shot Friday morning at an Atwater home. At approximately 9:56 AM Friday morning, Atwater Police began receiving reports of shots fired in the area of Winton Way and Fir Avenue.

Officers arrived on scene and found a male seated in the driver’s seat of a black sedan who had sustained at least two gunshot wounds. Cal-Fire personnel and Riggs Ambulance arrived at the scene and began life saving efforts before the victim was ultimately transported to a Merced hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The victim was identified as 22-year-old Ethan Morse of Merced. Witnesses described the shooter as a Hispanic male with a dark shirt last seen running eastbound on Fir Avenue. Three nearby schools were placed on lockdown after the shooting.

Ethan Morse was one of three sons to Larry Morse II and wife attorney Cindy Morse. He was a varsity wrestler at Golden Valley High School, where he graduated from in 2014.

He was also the defendant in a 2013 Atwater murder case where the judge declared him factually innocent of the charges. Following the trial the younger Morse filed a civil lawsuit the County of Merced for being falsely arrested and a Federal jury found in his favor. The jury also uled Merced County Sheriff’s detectives deceived a judge into signing an arrest warrant for Morse in July 2014. Morse was awarded $498,300 in damages.

Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact Detective Vierra at 209-357-6395 or Atwater PD at 209-357-6396. Callers may remain anonymous.