Student Killed In Wesleyan U. Bookstore

(CBS/AP)  A disguised gunman fatally shot a Wesleyan University student while she worked at a popular bookstore near campus Wednesday before fleeing into the bustling downtown area.

Police with dogs and armed with assault rifles swarmed nearby streets looking for a suspect early Wednesday afternoon and asked Wesleyan students to stay indoors. But after reassuring residents later in the afternoon that there was no threat to the public, police issued new warnings Wednesday night, telling residents and students to stay inside and be "extra vigilant."

They also released a surveillance photo taken inside the bookstore of a thin, bearded man they described as armed and dangerous.

Police Lt. Margaret Liseo said evidence uncovered at the scene "heightened our level of concern," but she wouldn't say what the evidence was.

"We just want to get the message out there to be extra vigilant," she said. "This individual is armed and dangerous, and we want to be sure public safety is our top priority."

The victim was identified as Johanna Justin-Jinish, of Timnath, Colo. She was working at the Red and Black Cafe inside Broad Street Books when the gunman shot her several times at point-blank range at around 1 p.m. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Justin-Jinish would have graduated next year from Wesleyan, a private liberal arts school in central Connecticut with about 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

Middletown police said they recovered a gun and the wig and know the identity of the suspect, reports CBS affiliate WFSB in Hartford.

Numerous newspaper and television reports said the suspect was an ex-boyfriend, but Liseo could not confirm the relationship.

"At this point, no," she said. "The better answer is, we don't know."

Police late Wednesday identified the suspect as 29-year-old Stephen Morgan. It's unclear where he lives.

A Wesleyan spokesman says he has no known connection to the university.

Police released a surveillance photo of a man they believe is Morgan.

As a precaution, university officials enacted the school's emergency plan after the shooting, and asked that all students and staff immediately get indoors. Police said they didn't believe the gunman remained on campus Wednesday evening and the university told students they could go about their regularly scheduled activities, WFSB reports.

With assistance from the superintendent of schools, police said, all Middletown public and private schools were locked down immediately after the shooting until the end of the school day as a precautionary measure. They said the students were released as usual at the end of the day.

Police said the Street Crimes Unit and a K-9 unit were called to the scene. They said a half-mile perimeter was set up around the area.

University officials offered counseling Wednesday night.

"This is a devastating loss for Johanna's family, friends, and for the entire Wesleyan Community," the university said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to all those who grieve for Johanna, and we hope all can find comfort in the support of friends, teachers and classmates."

Authorities said there were several witnesses to the shooting, and police found a wig used by the gunman and a weapon at the bookstore. Liseo said authorities haven't confirmed that it was the weapon used in the shooting.

The shooting and manhunt forced police to order hundreds of college students gathered nearby for Wesleyan's annual Spring Fling concerts to seek refuge. The concerts, held annually to allow students to blow off steam before spring semester finals, were canceled Wednesday.

Police officers were at the scene quickly because the station is less than two blocks away and officers were undergoing SWAT team training.

Outside the bookstore, several young women clustered outside the police line, crying. They said they were friends of the victim but would not talk to a reporter.

Other students called the shooting "tragic."

"We went from the height of our mood where everyone was really happy the semester was over to we don't even know what to think," said Darien Combs, a 20-year-old sophomore from Denver. "We're just processing."

[tostentwo]

I'd rather be in a cafe being shot up by someone's golf clubs than a gun, even if I had one, and especially if the place got lit up by the other patrons too. The arguments about alternative weapons also says that it is alright for Iran to be nuclear armed because they'd just use cars to ram the neighborhood anyhow. I don't know how to solve this pandora's box. I live in Montana around people who sleep with guns under their pillows to feel safe. I've got two rifles and have forgotten where the bullets are. I wonder how a person can live with the kind of insecurities that need the ability to kill constantly. It must be awful to feel that threatened all the time.

[pws54]

All of you anti-gun advocates need to tell everyone your plan to TOTALLY eliminate guns in the US or the world for that matter. Waiting....

Now to reality. I would never disagree that guns are too easily obtained in this country and around the world. However, removing guns from honest citizens trying to protect themselves is not the answer. Most police officers I speak with (Dallas, Tx) have no problem with those of us that have guns legally and who have permits to carry.

Maybe the states that outlaw guns for honest citizens should step back and take a look.
Texas has its share of gun problems but we rarely if ever have some psycho walk into an establishment and open fire. Why? Because they don't know who else might have one to fight back.

[yo_marc]

It would be impossible to get all of the guns off the streets. Impossible.

I'm a firm believer that if someone wants to commit a crime, and a gun is not around, they'll use something else. Outlaw guns, they'll use knives. Outlaw knives, they'll use big sticks.

It'd be better to address the root cause of the issues - the people committing the crimes. How? I have no idea.

[winchester70]

mea culpa. Two typos in one sentence. Keyboards INCREASE the number of nonsensical posts from anti-gun ZEALOTS. BTW, Culp's POS husband, who sadly failed in his suicide attempt, was sentenced to seven years. What a travesty!

[schoollord]

winchester said "And keyboards icrease the chances of blather from the anti-gun zwealots."

Could you define "icrease" and "zwealots" for me, please? There are no studies that I know of about keyboards and anti-gun "zwealots" but there are plenty of studies proving that guns at home increase the chances of suicide, homicide, accidental death, and injury!~

"The study findings imply "that guns, on balance, lethally imperil rather than protect Americans," lead study author Dr. Matthew Miller of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, told Reuters Health.

"This inference is consistent with previous...studies that have found that the presence of a gun in the home is a risk factor for homicide, suicide, and accidental death and starkly at odds with the unsubstantiated, yet often adduced, notion that guns are a public good," he added."

Too much for you, winchester?

[schoollord]

Do you know about the case of the "face-transplant" patient? Do you know how she got disfigured? Her LEGAL gun-owning husband SHOT her on her FACE with his LEGAL SHOTGUN!~ I just wanted to give you those FACTS so you know the havoc created by gun owners and their beloved guns!~

[winchester70]

tommynutz: Paragraphs 2,3, and 4 are correct. MSNBC reported it at 6:52 CDT yesterday. YESTERDAY, CBS. The rest is meaningless blather from the a "pathetic" "loser", and obsessed "nuisance".

[tommynutz]

"Yesterday another gun owner killed his family!~

"An electrical contractor who was having financial problems shot to death his live-in girlfriend and 3 1/2-year-old son before killing himself, police said Wednesday.

Officers called to an apartment Tuesday afternoon found the bodies of Craig Rubin, 44, and Mary Striley, 42, on beds in separate bedrooms while the body of their son, Jake, was in a high chair in the kitchen, Sgt. Dan Adams said.

Each had been shot once in the head."

Guns at home INCREASE the chances of suicide, homicide, accidental death, and injury!~ "

I think you just made all that up.

[winchester70]

And keyboards icrease the chances of blather from the anti-gun zwealots.

[schoollord]

Yesterday another gun owner killed his family!~

"An electrical contractor who was having financial problems shot to death his live-in girlfriend and 3 1/2-year-old son before killing himself, police said Wednesday.

Officers called to an apartment Tuesday afternoon found the bodies of Craig Rubin, 44, and Mary Striley, 42, on beds in separate bedrooms while the body of their son, Jake, was in a high chair in the kitchen, Sgt. Dan Adams said.

Each had been shot once in the head."

Guns at home INCREASE the chances of suicide, homicide, accidental death, and injury!~