Spring Break
After slaying, Conn. students warned to stay in
John Christoffersen The Associated Press
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: News
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) - Wesleyan University students were told to stay in their dorms and the city's only synagogue closed Thursday as police warned that the man wanted in the shooting death of a woman at a bookstore may be bent on killing other students and Jews.
Apparently applying the lessons of Virginia Tech, police and administrators locked down the 3,000-student campus and stepped up patrols as authorities hunted for the killer.
Johanna Justin-Jinich, a 21-year-old Wesleyan student, was shot several times Wednesday inside a bookstore cafe just off campus by a gunman wearing a wig. Two years ago, she complained to police in New York that the suspect, 29-year-old Stephen P. Morgan, had stalked and threatened her.
University officials said police told them the suspect expressed threats in his personal journals toward Wesleyan and its Jewish students. No details were disclosed.
"Investigators have been in contact with Wesleyan University and leaders of the Jewish community, urging both to be extra vigilant," Middletown Police Chief Lynn Baldoni said.
Justin-Jinich, of Timnath, Colo., came from a Jewish family, and her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.
Morgan's brother told The Associated Press that he wasn't anti-Semitic. His family issued a statement pleading with Morgan to turn himself in "to avoid any further bloodshed."
Wesleyan officials told students to stay indoors and staff members to stay home. Most buildings on campus, including cafeterias and the library, were locked. Normally bustling sidewalks were empty, and police cruisers patrolled the campus of the elite liberal arts school.
In dorms, students in flip-flops, gym shorts and pajama pants shuffled downstairs to pick up box lunches.
"We're supposed to do some work, but really I just keep checking my e-mail and checking on friends and letting people from home know that I'm OK," said freshman Christina Yow of China. "Anything to distract."
Apparently applying the lessons of Virginia Tech, police and administrators locked down the 3,000-student campus and stepped up patrols as authorities hunted for the killer.
Johanna Justin-Jinich, a 21-year-old Wesleyan student, was shot several times Wednesday inside a bookstore cafe just off campus by a gunman wearing a wig. Two years ago, she complained to police in New York that the suspect, 29-year-old Stephen P. Morgan, had stalked and threatened her.
University officials said police told them the suspect expressed threats in his personal journals toward Wesleyan and its Jewish students. No details were disclosed.
"Investigators have been in contact with Wesleyan University and leaders of the Jewish community, urging both to be extra vigilant," Middletown Police Chief Lynn Baldoni said.
Justin-Jinich, of Timnath, Colo., came from a Jewish family, and her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.
Morgan's brother told The Associated Press that he wasn't anti-Semitic. His family issued a statement pleading with Morgan to turn himself in "to avoid any further bloodshed."
Wesleyan officials told students to stay indoors and staff members to stay home. Most buildings on campus, including cafeterias and the library, were locked. Normally bustling sidewalks were empty, and police cruisers patrolled the campus of the elite liberal arts school.
In dorms, students in flip-flops, gym shorts and pajama pants shuffled downstairs to pick up box lunches.
"We're supposed to do some work, but really I just keep checking my e-mail and checking on friends and letting people from home know that I'm OK," said freshman Christina Yow of China. "Anything to distract."
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duder
posted 5/08/09 @ 6:36 AM MST
their classes end tuesday and finals begin monday...
are you listening, CSU?
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