Wesleyan Suspect's Sister: Turn Yourself In

MIDDLETOWN, Connecticut (CNN) -- The sister of the man suspected in the fatal shooting of a Wesleyan University junior urged him Thursday to turn himself in to "avoid any further bloodshed."

Police have launched a nationwide search for Stephen Morgan, who is suspected of killing Johanna Justin-Jinich.

The 21-year-old woman was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon at a bookstore in Middletown, Connecticut, near the Wesleyan campus, police said.

Diana Morgan, the suspect's sister, told reporters in Marblehead, Massachusetts, that her family is "shocked and sickened by the tragedy in Middletown."

She said her family does not know her brother's whereabouts, but issued a brief appeal to him through the media:

"Steve, turn yourself in right now to any law enforcement agency, wherever you are, to avoid any further bloodshed. We love you, we will support you in every way, and we don't want anyone else to get hurt."

She did not take questions.

Although authorities are not certain whether Morgan is still in the Middletown area, police told the community and university on Thursday to be vigilant, saying he may be targeting Wesleyan University and the town's Jewish residents.

"Evidence uncovered overnight suggests that Mr. Morgan may be focused on the Wesleyan community campus as well as the Jewish community," said Middletown Police Chief Lynn Baldoni, who did not elaborate.

A statement from the university alleges that Morgan had written threats against "Wesleyan and/or its Jewish students" in his personal journals.

Justin-Jinich was a student at Wesleyan and, according to Middletown's mayor, was Jewish. But there was another connection between her and her alleged killer, authorities said.

In July 2007, the young woman filed a harassment complaint against Morgan while the two were taking the same six-week summer course at New York University, school spokesman John Beckman told CNN.

The complaint, in which Justin-Jinich said she was receiving harassing e-mails and phone calls from Morgan, was filed with the university's public safety department toward the end of the course, Beckman said.

The public safety department brought in the New York Police department, and after conversations with Morgan and Justin-Jinich, Justin-Jinich declined to follow up or press charges, Beckman said.

Beckman said the two were not living in the same student residence house during the course. Additional details were not immediately available.

Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano said the connection between Morgan and Justin-Jinich may "go back to Colorado." No further details were available.

Concern for the Wesleyan community and the Jewish community "developed out of evidence that the police may have gotten when they executed search warrants on his car, on the motel room he was staying in," Giuliano said. "Something turned up that caused them to believe that there might be a threat beyond her or a threat to the larger communities she belonged to."

Wesleyan University urged its students, who are finished with classes and getting ready for final exams, to stay inside.

However, Baldoni said investigators were not certain if Morgan was still in the area of Middletown, a central Connecticut city with a population of about 48,000. She said Morgan had "past connections" to New York, Massachusetts and Colorado, although she did not elaborate.

Justin-Jinich was shot Wednesday afternoon at the Red & Black Cafe in Broad Street Books, the campus bookstore, the university said.

She worked at the cafe, according to its Web site. It said that her killing has left employees "devastated."

Down the street, Congregation Adath Israel, Middletown's lone synagogue, canceled all activities for the next day, said its president, Eliot Meadow.

He said police told him that they do not think Morgan is part of a larger anti-Semitic organization.

About 200 families attend the synagogue, Meadow said, and he added that Wesleyan, a private university with about 3,000 students, has a substantial Jewish population.

The U.S. Marshals Service and Wesleyan University President Michael Roth each are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the suspect's capture.