Which means that the administration handled the situation extremely well by shutting everything on campus down yesterday and containing students as soon as news of the shooting broke out.
After committing the murder, Morgan actually stuck around for a few minutes in the parking lot of Broad Street Books and was questioned by police as a witness, after which he disappeared:
Morgan wore a disguise, including a wig, inside Red & Black Books when he approached Johanna Justin-Jinich and shot her point blank seven times, law enforcement sources said. Morgan then dropped the gun, shed his clothes and the wig inside the bookstore and left but did not leave the area. Instead, when Middletown police arrived, he was one of many people milling around the area who police initially questioned.
An officer asked for his name and phone number in case they needed to contact him later on and let him go, the sources said.
It wasn't until hours later, when police heard Morgan's name as a possible suspect from Justin-Jinich's family, that they realized they had stopped him outside the bookstore. Sources said it isn't clear whether Morgan deliberately hung around to see the chaos he had created or if he was unable to leave because his vehicle was blocked in by responding police officers.
Police did confiscate Morgan's car, which had Colorado license plates. They believe Morgan escaped the area on foot.
Police later discovered a journal inside the car with an entry in which Morgan outlined his plan to rape and then kill Justin-Jinich before going on a shooting spree on the Wesleyan campus.
Police believe that Morgan came to the Middletown area from Boulder, Colo., at least one day before the shootings and stayed in a local hotel overnight. Sources said that Morgan and Justin-Jinich knew each other from Colorado although they are still trying to determine the depth of the relationship or why Morgan decided to drive across the country to kill her.
This really puts the gravity of the situation in perspective - I'm so grateful that no one else has been hurt. The authorities seem to be handling this situation well, and it seems incredibly unlikely that this guy is anywhere near Middletown at this point.
Hang in there, Wes.
A clip from a Middletown Police Department conference earlier today, with a statement by President Michael Roth:
Hartford Courant: Police Questiones Wesleyan Suspect Shortly After Killing
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