Police: Wesleyan suspect targeting school, Jews
MIDDLETOWN, Connecticut -- Police on Thursday urged Wesleyan University and local Jewish leaders to be "extra vigilant" after concluding that a man suspected of fatally shooting a Wesleyan student at a bookstore may be targeting the school and Jews.
Officials said they had launched a nationwide manhunt for 29-year-old Stephen Morgan. Authorities believe that Morgan disguised himself with a wig and shot 21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich at her job at a cafe inside Broad Street Books, a popular bookstore.
Investigators uncovered a connection between Morgan and Justin-Jinich, and believe the shooting was not a random act, Middletown Police Chief Lynn Baldoni said.
A New York City police report shows that the suspect in a Connecticut bookstore slaying threatened the woman in 2007 when they were attending New York University.
Johanna Justin-Jinich filed a harassment complaint against Stephen Morgan on July 10, 2007, claiming that he was calling her repeatedly and sent her insulting emails for at least a week.
In one e-mail, Morgan allegedly said Justin-Jinich was "going to have a lot more problems down the road."
Morgan had apparently already left the city at the time the complaint was filed and was not arrested.
Evidence also "suggests that Mr. Morgan may be focused on the Wesleyan University campus as well as the Jewish community," Baldoni said at a news conference Thursday. "Investigators have been in contact with Wesleyan University and leaders of the Jewish community, urging both to be extra vigilant."
She would not elaborate and did not take questions.
Police maintained a heavy presence Thursday on the normally busy campus, located in this central Connecticut city of 48,000, but many doors were locked and the grounds were barren of students.
University officials urged students to remain indoors and staff to stay home. Spring classes have already concluded and finals have not yet begun.
"We think we are able to keep our students safe and we are working hard to do so," Wesleyan President Michael Roth said.
Police described the gunman as armed and dangerous and released a surveillance photo taken inside the bookstore of a thin, bearded man they believe is Morgan. Authorities didn't know if Morgan was still in the Middletown area, and said he has past connections to New York, Colorado and Massachusetts.
Local police are working with Connecticut state police and the FBI, Baldoni said.
Justin-Jinich would have graduated next year from Wesleyan, a private liberal arts school in central Connecticut with about 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
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