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Police: Wesleyan suspect targeting school, Jews
Middletown Police chief say 29-year-old man wanted in Wednesday's shooting death of Jewish student 'may be focused on the Wesleyan University campus as well as the Jewish community'; local Jewish leaders urged to be 'extra vigilant'; synagogue shut down
Police urged students at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut to stay locked in their dorms, and city's only synagogue was shut down, as authorities said a man wanted in the bookstore shooting death of a Wesleyan student had threatened the woman years before, and may now be targeting the school and Jews.
Police urged university students and local Jewish leaders to be "extra vigilant" while they sought 29-year-old Stephen Morgan. Investigators believe that Morgan disguised himself with a wig and shot 21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich, a junior from Timnath, Colo., at her job at a cafe inside Broad Street Books, a popular bookstore.
Justin-Jinich was Jewish. Evidence "suggests that Mr. Morgan may be focused on the Wesleyan University campus as well as the Jewish community," Middletown Police Chief Lynn Baldoni 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."
Local police would only say that the shooting was not a random act, but a New York City police report shows that Morgan allegedly threatened Justin-Jinich in 2007, when they were attending New York University.
'It was a no-brainer to close the building'
Justin-Jinich filed a harassment complaint on July 10, 2007, claiming that he was calling her repeatedly and sent her insulting e-mails for at least a week.
"You're going to have a lot more problems down the road if you can't take any (expletive) criticism, Johanna," one of the e-mails said, according to the police report.
Morgan had apparently already left New York for Boston at the time the complaint was filed and was not arrested.
Police would not say why they believe Morgan may target the university or Jews.
Justin-Jinich's former stepmother, Karin Radcliffe, said the girl came from a Jewish family. "She was just a wonderful kid, very smart, very loving," Radcliffe said
Middletown's only synagogue, Congregation Adath Israel, is across the street from the bookstore. It was closed Thursday and congregants were considering canceling Sabbath services Friday night and Saturday.
Synagogue president Eliot Meadow said police didn't offer details about the threats.
"It was a no-brainer to close the building until we knew more information," he said. "We didn't know if he was planning something. We're hoping that they catch him before tomorrow night."
Wesleyan officials locked campus immediately after Wednesday's shooting.
A panel that investigated the April 16, 2007, massacre at Virginia Tech concluded that university officials erred by not acting more quickly to warn students because police prematurely concluded that the first two victims were shot as a result of a domestic dispute.
