Former Kentucky state representative C Wesley Morgan exchanged gunfire with an intruder who shot and killed his daughter, police say.
The home invasion unfolded at Mr Morgan’s home in Richmond, Kentucky, at around 4.30am on Tuesday, resulting in the death of his 32-year-old daughter Jordan Morgan and injuries to his wife and himself.
Kentucky State Police (KSP) said Mr Morgan, who left office in 2018 after one term, brandished a firearm after his daughter was fatally shot.
“Gunshots were then exchanged between the homeowner and intruder,” a police statement read. “As a result, the homeowner sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and was transported to the University of Kentucky Hospital, where he was treated and released.
“The armed suspect left the residence after the shooting, and no arrests have been made at this time.”
State Trooper Robert Purdy said investigators have yet to determine if the attack was a burglary gone wrong or an attempted homicide.
Mr Morgan confirmed his daughter’s death but declined to provide further information about what happened, citing an ongoing investigation, according to the Herald Leader.
Mr Purdy said police are still in the “very early stages, preliminary stages of the investigation” and urged anyone with relevant information to contact KSP at 859-623-2404.
“This isn’t the kind of incident or situation that we see a whole lot of in Madison County,” he told NBC News. “I know the family and it’s a tragic loss for the community. As a dad myself, I can’t imagine anything like that happening. Our hearts go out to them.”
The house where the alleged break-in took place has its own interesting history.
The 14,300-square-foot mansion was listed on sale last year for $6.5m. Inside, prospective buyers would find all the usual bells and whistles – chandeliers, Grecian columns, an atrium – as well as the “ultimate fallout shelter” buried underneath the house.
“It was built by someone who wanted the ultimate fallout shelter. He wanted it to be very secure, and he wanted it to have things that none of the other ones had,” listing agent Marilyn Hoffman of Hoffman International Properties told Realtor.com in November. “It’s a nuclear, biological, and chemical fallout shelter.”
The 2,000-square-foot saferoom is 26 feet underground, with 39-inch solid concrete ceilings and 15-inch walls, as well as a Swiss air filtration system.
In 2017, while in office, Mr Morgan, who owns a number of Kentucky liquor stores, was charged with illegally transporting alcohol across county lines, which was illegal at the time without a transporter’s licence.
Later that year, a judge dropped the charges, after a change in state law.
Mr Morgan would later go on to unsuccessfully challenge US Senator Mitch McConnell in the state’s Republican primary in 2020.
His daughter Jordan followed her father into politics by working on Republican Matt Bevin’s successful gubernatorial campaign in Kentucky in 2015. She served on his communications team until 2017, when she left politics to work as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Boone County, according to the Leader.
At the time of her death, Jordan was employed by the Reminger law firm in Lexington.
