From Mirror staff reports

A Mount Joy woman who sought emergency protection from abuse against an Altoona man hours before his death said she feared 22-year-old Ricky Jacob Shannon would harm or kill her.

Gabriella Nicole Morgan, 19, was granted an emergency PFA on Thursday, Nov. 7, after a two-page handwritten narrative was presented to Magisterial District Judge Miles K. Bixler in Lancaster County.

Morgan was found dead in Shannon’s pickup truck after a shootout with state police in Dauphin County early Friday morning.

Police said before the shooting, Shannon arrived at the Mount Joy Borough apartment complex where Morgan was staying with his family. Lancaster County Prosecutor Dr. There he opened fire and fatally shot 41-year-old Kimberly M. Day, according to Stephen Diamantoni. Many people were injured in the conflict, although their names could not be determined. Police did not disclose their relationship to Morgan other than to say they were family members of the teen.

The events leading up to the fatal shootings are detailed in a pair of PFAs, one filed by Shannon in Blair County and the other by Morgan in Lancaster County after he moved out of Shannon’s home on 11th Street.

The Mirror received a copy of Shannon’s PFA on Friday but was unable to obtain a copy of Morgan’s urgent PFA petition until Tuesday.

The young woman said in her petition that she woke up on Monday morning.

(November 4) Shannon gets angry for no reason and locks her bedroom door so she can’t go out and use the bathroom. When he tried to break open the door, he wrote, Shannon told him she was going to have him arrested.

When she opened the door hours later, “He told me he hoped I would get harassed and jump on me,” Morgan wrote, adding that he was yelling at her and calling her names.

She also called Altoona police, saying he threatened to kill her involuntarily.

Morgan said his mother and uncle came to Altoona to pick him up, and he packed his belongings and headed to Mount Joy with them.

Morgan said that after leaving Altoona, Shannon continued to call and text him non-stop throughout the 3-hour drive. When Morgan and his family arrived in Mount Joy, they went to the local police to report how Shannon had hacked into their email, Facebook, PlayStation and Instagram accounts. He also stated that he would not stop calling her and that there were 40 missed calls from her.

The PFA wrote in its petition that Shannon continued to call him the next day.

“I’m afraid he’ll find me and hurt me because, as he puts it, he’ll ‘prank’ me by cutting off my body parts or hurt me if I leave,” she wrote.

He said Shannon had previously locked him in his bedroom, threatened him with a knife, hit and strangled him.

“I’m afraid he’ll call again and harass me, but I’m also afraid for my life,” he concluded.

According to court documents, an emergency PFA order was granted by Bixler following Morgan’s complaint.

Shannon was served with this PFA warrant at about 1 a.m. on Friday, November 8, and left her home in Altoona a short time later, found Morgan in the Mount Joy Borough area and shot three people, killing one.

Police said Shannon fled in a pickup truck and drove 65 kilometers at 90 to 100 mph to Dauphin County, where troopers forced his vehicle to stop.

Shannon was the one who initiated the confrontation with troopers and put them in danger, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a news conference Friday to discuss the chain of events.

“(Shannon) opened fire and fired multiple shots at the patrol cars and the troopers within inches of each other, leaving them no choice but to return fire,” Bivens said.

When troopers later checked on Shannon, Bivens said they discovered the 19-year-old woman was also inside the pickup. He too died from gunshot wounds.

“The darkness, the tinting of the windows, and the resulting airbag deployment… prevented the officers from knowing there was another passenger in that vehicle,” Bivens said.

While the investigation into the shooting continues, Shannon’s PFA filed a lawsuit in Blair County court on Tuesday, Nov. 5, seeking Morgan’s eviction and removal from their residence in the 500 block of 11th Avenue.

Requesting a court order, Shannon accused him of physically abusing her and others, destroying property and playing with fire. A copy of this PFA order was to be forwarded to the Altoona and Mount Joy police departments in conjunction with a hearing scheduled for Thursday, November 14 at the Blair County Courthouse.

Bivens said Friday that Major Incident Teams from state police Troops H and J have been activated as part of the ongoing investigation. Their work is expected to include additional interviews and review of body camera and dash cam video.

Police first responded to the Terrace Hill Apartments on Main Street in Mount Joy at 4:15 a.m. for reports of shots fired and that the suspect was driving a red pickup truck.

Mount Joy County police spotted the truck at 4:22 a.m. and began a chase involving other departments as Shannon fled, sometimes driving the wrong way on Route 322, where his truck hit several vehicles, state police said.

Bivens also revealed at the press conference that Shannon was licensed to carry a firearm and had legally purchased a firearm in the past. During the confrontation with police, Bivens said officers were aware that Shannon had a gun that he could reload and fire.

The Dauphin County Coroner’s Office is handling Morgan’s death.