RICHMOND, Ky. — A man sought in a fatal shooting at the home of a former Kentucky lawmaker was arrested early Monday, Kentucky State Police said.
Shannon Gilday, 23, was taken into custody without incident by a Madison County Sheriff’s deputy who found him walking along a roadway, police said in a statement.
Police charged Gilday in a warrant last week with murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree assault and two counts of attempted murder in connection with a home invasion at the home of former state Rep. Wesley Morgan.
Gilday is accused of forcing his way inside the Richmond home, fatally shooting Jordan Morgan, 32, and then exchanging gunfire with her father, Wesley Morgan, before fleeing.
Surveillance video from outside the home shows a person in front of the home walking around, and police said they believe that person was Gilday.
Morgan served one term as a state representative for Richmond and Berea in Madison County.
Morgan told news outlets Sunday that the shots that killed his daughter woke him and he confronted the suspect, who shot him three times with an AR-15. Morgan said he then retrieved a gun from his bedroom, shot at the intruder and called 911. Morgan was treated and released at a hospital for non-life-threatening injures, police said.
Gilday’s mother released a statement Friday that said her son has been “distraught with the certainty a nuclear war is imminent,” news outlets reported.
“My son Shannon Gilday, who I love so dearly, has not been of sound mind the last couple of weeks, distraught with the certainty a nuclear war is imminent. He spoke of building a bunker and the CIA following him. I tried to get him psychiatric help but to no avail,” she said.
There is a fully-stocked bunker underneath Morgan’s home and Kentucky State Police Sgt. Robert Purdy has previously said investigators “were aware of (the bunker) being a possible motive” but would not know for sure until speaking with Gilday.
It was not immediately clear if Gilday has an attorney.