A 23-year-old Army veteran is wanted for injuring a former Kentucky state representative and killing his daughter when he allegedly broke into their $6.5 million property during the summer. this week.
Police are still searching for Shannon V. Gilday of Taylor Mill, who they believe broke into the home of former state representative Wesley Morgan outside Richmond Friday, brandishing an assault rifle. Officials say he injured Morgan in a shootout and fatally shot his daughter, Jordan Morgan, 32, in her bed.
Police do not believe there is a relationship between Gilday and Morgans and refuse to give a motive, according to Northern Kentucky Tribune. But in a statement on Friday, Gilday’s mother, Katie Gilday, said her son “has not been sober” in recent weeks, and is “anxious to know for certain that a nuclear war is imminent. “.
“He talked about building a bunker and the CIA spying on him. I tried to ask him for psychological help but to no avail,” she wrote. “I begged Shannon to give up on himself so he could get the help he desperately needed.”
The Morgan family happens to own a bunker on their 200-acre property, according to a real estate listings online. The Zillow listing describes the property as having a $3 million, 2,000 square foot, “Nuclear/Biological/Chemical Shelter,” complete with underground 21,000-gallon propane tanks, an 8,000-gallon pressurized water tank, three generators, geothermal and air-cooled heat, and insulated foam walls. The entire structure is buried 26 feet underground.
“This is arguably the safest home on the market in this country,” the listing reads. “It’s built to withstand the No.12 earthquake, has three air filters from Switzerland and two escape tunnels, one about 100 yards long.”
In an interview with Lexington Herald-Leader Last year, Morgan said he began building the bunker after the 2008 election of Barack Obama, who he claimed was “trying to change our country into a socialist country.”
“I just wanted somewhere safe,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of bad things going on in the world right now. If we don’t act together, we will end up in a civil war. “
Morgan is a liquor store owner who served at Kentucky House from 2017 to 2019, and is known for funding multiple bills that make doing business easier for — who else — liquor store owners, according to Herald-Leader. He was trailed by a Republican in 2018 and unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell in the Senate primary in 2020.
His daughter, Jordan, previously served as deputy press secretary to former Governor Matt Bevin. She had started working at a local law firm a week before her death.
“While Ms. Morgan has only worked at Reminger for a week, we know her as a pleasant colleague with a promising future as an attorney,” the law firm said in a statement. “We are shocked and saddened by the circumstances surrounding her unfortunate death.”
Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Gildray on charges of murder, burglary, crime, assault and two counts of attempted murder.
US Army spokeswoman Heather J. Hagan told local TV station, 23 years old, 6 feet tall and weighing about 167 pounds, served in the military from August 2018 to October 2019. WYKT. Police said he was last seen on surveillance footage at Morgan’s property, wearing a jacket and camisole pants, a sweater with a dark hood, gloves and a mask. Officers suspected he had camping documents in his vehicle – a white 2016 Toyota Corolla – and asked campers in the area to take precautions.
“It didn’t appear [this] necessarily just a theft,” said Sgt. Robert Purdy, a spokesman for the Kentucky State Police, told Louisville Courier Magazine. “We believe there was a criminal act and a violent intent.”
“We need the public’s support in locating him,” he added.
