Might an extreme risk protection order have saved a Mount Joy mom and daughter? Sadly, it wasn't an option. [editorial]

THE ISSUE

"A Mount Joy teen was killed (Nov. 8) in a police shootout involving her ex-boyfriend, and according to a protection from abuse order she took out against him, she feared for her life," LNP | LancasterOnline's Dan Nephin reported . "Gabriella Nicole Morgan, 19, obtained an emergency protection order against Ricky Shannon at 2:35 p.m. (Nov. 7), signed by Columbia Borough District Judge Miles Bixler. Authorities served Shannon with the order around 1 a.m. (Nov. 8). Shannon then drove from Altoona to Sassafras Terrace apartments on East Main Street in Mount Joy Borough, where Morgan was staying, and began shooting." At Sassafras Terrace apartments, Shannon killed Morgan's mother, Kimberly Day, 41, and injured her stepfather, Brian Miller, and her sister, Jennifer Day. Police said Shannon also may have shot Gabriella Morgan at that location; a spokesperson for her family said she then went unwillingly with Shannon to his truck. She was found in the truck after the shootout with police.

A photo submitted to LNP | LancasterOnline shows a proud Kimberly Day with her daughter Gabriella. The photo bears several heart emojis and the caption, "My chicken nugget."

Both mother and daughter now are dead.

The particulars of how this happened are yet to be determined, but there's no dispute that an Altoona man named Ricky Shannon was the driving force behind their deaths.

Police say Shannon drove 150 miles early in the morning of Nov. 8 after being served an emergency protection from abuse order Morgan had taken out against him. Shannon then went on a violent rampage that ended with him being killed in a shootout with police.

Morgan claimed in that protection from abuse order that Shannon had locked her in a bedroom in the Altoona house he shared with his mother; he hacked her social media accounts; and he pointed a knife at her.

A man who identified himself as Morgan's uncle told LNP | LancasterOnline that almost immediately after Morgan moved in with Shannon about a year ago, Shannon began to isolate her, at times locking her in their bedroom, and prohibiting her from calling her mother or other family members. Isolating a person from her loved ones is typical domestic abuse.

In a dueling protection from abuse order, Shannon claimed, among other things, that Morgan had punched and choked him and threw "stuff" at him.

After Morgan left Shannon's Altoona home Nov. 4 with her mother and an uncle, Shannon repeatedly called her and messaged her during the three-hour drive to Mount Joy, according to the account Morgan provided for the emergency protection order. She also wrote that Shannon told her while she was packing that he hoped she would get raped and said other "nasty things."

Morgan was able to obtain an emergency protection from abuse order once she was in Lancaster County.

But because it was an emergency order, Shannon was not required to relinquish any firearms.

Firearms relinquishment is not an option in emergency protection from abuse orders, though it can be included in a temporary order at the discretion of the judge. An emergency order is generally issued outside of court hours.

Lauren Duff, director of communications for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said that different courts in different counties can set the times that they want to be available for temporary protection from abuse order filing, with some courts cutting off that time as early as 2 p.m. This inconsistency, she noted, can force more victims into an emergency protection from abuse order that doesn't have the option for firearms relinquishment.

Act 79 of 2018 — which was among the rare pieces of gun-safety legislation to actually pass in Pennsylvania — mandated firearms relinquishment for final protection from abuse orders entered after a hearing (it also made friends and family members ineligible to hold relinquished firearms for subjects of final orders).

But Morgan only had an emergency protection from abuse order to protect her.

Even if she had reason to fear that Shannon might use a firearm to kill her, she was unable to seek a different kind of order — an extreme risk protection order — that might have kept weapons out of his hands.

Why? Because such an order does not exist in Pennsylvania law.

Extreme risk protection orders give courts the power to remove guns, temporarily, from people who may be a danger to themselves or others. Family members or law enforcement can petition the courts for a civil order to suspend a person's access to firearms for up to a year. These orders can prevent a person from acting on his most dangerous impulses.

Duff of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence said extreme risk protection orders "would absolutely help prevent domestic violence fatalities. ... A victim of domestic violence is 5 times more likely to die when their abuser has access to a firearm."

Of the 119 Pennsylvania domestic violence victims killed in 2023, 77% were killed by firearms.

We have been imploring the Pennsylvania Legislature for years to enact an extreme risk protection order law — commonly referred to as a "red flag" law — in the commonwealth.

State House Bill 1018, which would have done just that, was passed by the state House last year by a vote of 102-99. Unfortunately, it was sent to the state Senate Judiciary Committee where it languished. Shamefully, not a single Lancaster County Republican House member voted for the legislation.

This is inexplicable, particularly as a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June affirmed the constitutionality of protection orders that keep firearms away from domestic abusers.

As the website of CeaseFirePA points out , a petitioner for an extreme risk protection order needs to provide evidence to convince the court that there is a serious risk. "This guarantees due process while helping save lives," CeaseFirePA notes.

According to a 2019 Franklin & Marshall College poll, 62% of Pennsylvania registered voters surveyed said they strongly favored having a red flag law and another 18% somewhat favored such a measure. There are not many issues on which 80% of Pennsylvanians agree.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have such a law. They can be critical in reducing suicides and domestic violence deaths.

It's impossible to know if an extreme risk protection order would been granted in the case of Ricky Shannon, or if one would have saved the lives of Kimberly Day and Gabriella Morgan. All we know is that it wasn't even an option. And that's a tragedy in and of itself.

GET HELP

— National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233); TTY: 800-787-3224.

— Lancaster County Domestic Violence Services 24-hour hotline: 717-299-1249. (Collect calls are accepted.)

— If you need assistance, you can text a Domestic Violence Services advocate. Text SAFE to 61222.

Email is not a secure form of communication, and those requesting information via email may not receive an immediate reply. Crisis-related messages should be directed to the 24-hour hotline. Only general questions and information, such as volunteer inquiries and donation information, can be shared via email at .

This editorial briefly mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs immediate help, contact the following organizations:

— National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org .

— Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline via TTY at 800-799-4889.

— Lancaster Crisis Intervention, 717-394-2631.