Suspect in fatal McKeesport police officer shooting released from hospital

Detectives wheeled the man accused of killing a McKeesport police officer out of UPMC Presbyterian hospital Thursday morning.

Johnathan J. Morris was dressed in a hospital gown, with his right leg in a walking boot and a white blanket draped across his lap.

Under that blanket, securing the suspect’s hands, were the handcuffs used by slain Officer Sean Sluganski during his law enforcement career.

On hand to watch Morris as he was moved from the hospital to the jail were two supervisors from the McKeesport Police Department.

“Had the incident played out nonviolently, it would have (likely) ended with (Morris) wearing Officer Sluganski’s handcuffs and being transported to the jail by McKeesport police,” said Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns. “It completed the circle of where it should have been.”

Morris, 31, was taken to the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh just before noon and arraigned a short time later by District Judge Jehosha Wright, who denied bond.

Morris is charged with homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, assault of a law enforcement officer and related charges stemming from the shooting on Grandview Avenue on Monday afternoon. Sluganski was shot and killed during the incident. Another McKeesport officer, Chuck Thomas, was wounded.

Morris fired at a third officer, who returned fire and wounded Morris. He was taken into custody and transported to the hospital, where he remained until Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Tribune-Review reported that McKeesport police had been called to Morris’ home on Wilson Street to do a welfare check on Jan. 13 after they received a call from an Escambia County, Florida, sheriff’s deputy.

Deputy Thomas Harris told the Trib on Thursday that he was working off-duty at the Navy Federal Credit Union in Pensacola when he was contacted by security personnel there about 12:10 p.m.

According to the deputy, Morris, a former U.S. marine, had been on the phone with the credit union.

“He made multiple threats to go on a shooting spree, or killing spree, at multiple branches,” Harris said.

The deputy contacted Allegheny County dispatchers and asked that McKeesport follow up with Morris “to check on his well-being and check on the validity of his statements, which, unfortunately, came true,” Harris said.

According to archived dispatch radio traffic, McKeesport police were dispatched to Morris’ home at 1:37 p.m.

“I have an out-of-state police department requesting a welfare check at 1411 Wilson St. It will be on a Johnathan Morris. He made threats to a credit union over the phone (that) he’s going to go on a killing spree,” the dispatcher told officers. “Officer’s requesting a call back. His number’s in the call.”

The dispatcher told the officer there had been no prior calls to that address.

One of the responding officers then radioed: “We’re getting no response at the door. No vehicles are here. Are they sure about the address?”

“That’s affirmative. I do have a phone number for the Black male and for the police deputy, as well,” the dispatcher answered.

At 1:49 p.m., an officer said, “Unable to make contact,” and the call ended.

Harris said that a McKeesport officer did call to talk to him and reported they were unable to make contact with Morris. Morris’ mother, Candace Tyler, was a McKeesport police officer for 16 years until she was fired in 2021.

“I don’t know if they were doing any follow up after that,” Harris said.

On Thursday afternoon, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., who was attending a police chiefs association meeting in Collier, said he was not aware of the incident in Florida or another from Sunday evening in which Morris was suspected of firing shots into a corner store just a few blocks from where Sluganski was killed.

“County Police haven’t briefed me on those,” Zappala said. “He was known to McKeesport police. However, they decided to approach him, I don’t know what the details of what their ops were, but certainly the county police are looking into that.”

Zappala said that neither Sluganski nor Thomas had drawn their weapons when they approached Morris on Monday.

According to Zappala, Morris was a legal gun owner, which meant he had no mental health history in Pennsylvania that would have prohibited him from owning a firearm.

“Obviously, it’s early in the investigation,” he said. “We have to go through basically his entire life.”

Although PTSD was mentioned in the initial 911 call from Morris’ mother to dispatchers, Zappala said that his military career did not involve combat.

“We’re going through his military background right now. I don’t think he saw any combat,” Zappala said. “PTSD usually is something that develops when you’re in firefights, and I don’t know that that ever happened.”

According to military records obtained by the Trib, Morris enlisted in the Marine Corps in San Diego in 2011. He spent more than seven years in the service, including a three-month stint in Afghanistan in 2013.

Morris, an inventory management specialist, was promoted to sergeant in 2016 and left the Marines in December 2018.

At the time, he was stationed at Marine Forces Command in Indian Head, Md. A military spokesman said discharge information for service members was confidential.

Visitation for Sluganski is scheduled for Sunday and Monday, and a funeral is scheduled for Tuesday.