‘I have a hostage’: findings released after fatal siege
Pursued by police at a motel, Matthew Kim Morgan took his pregnant wife to the window and pointed a shotgun at her head.
During the 48-minute police siege, Morgan fired two shots through the rear window, setting objects on fire and creating an improvised explosion in a microwave oven.
A drug-affected fugitive was shot dead by a police sniper after threatening his wife at Adelaide’s Tollgate Motel.
Nine years later, a coroner finally released findings saying the decision to fatally shoot the 24-year-old did not warrant any criticism.
An investigation in 2019 heard that Morgan gave a fake name to police and then tried to block a police officer’s car in October 2017.
However, Morgan hit the police officer with his vehicle and suffered a concussion.
The next day, police tracked Morgan’s phone to the Tollgate Motel, where he was staying with his pregnant wife, Jami-Lee Morgan.
When police checked Morgan’s room, Morgan pointed his shotgun through the window at an unarmed officer and shouted, “I have a hostage.”
His behavior over the next 48 minutes was described as “extremely erratic”, as he shot out the window, started a fire and improvised a microwave oven explosion.
CCTV footage outside the motel was released showing the siege.
In a static shot of the motel parking lot, Morgan can be heard shouting: “Are you listening ’cause I’m gonna blow your shit up, motherfucker.”
After the sound of breaking glass, Morgan then shouts, “Let’s light some fire.”
When Morgan took his wife to the window and threatened to shoot her, the woman testified that she “believed at the time that he was capable of doing so.”
A police sniper in the back of the motel room formed the view that “everything was going to blow up” with Morgan and the hostage inside after the fires were lit, State’s Attorney David Whittle said Friday.
The coroner added that the marksman determined that the use of a firearm was necessary to preserve life.
When Morgan entered the bathroom, he was fatally wounded when the officer fired three shots.
A pharmacologist presented evidence that Morgan was “profoundly affected” by amphetamines, while a psychiatrist said his behavior “contained all the ingredients for drug-induced psychosis.”
Morgan, who had a “complicated” mental health history, was wanted by police in South Australia and Queensland and was on bail for offenses in NSW.
The SA Police Search System contained 22 warnings for Morgan, including four for weapons and three for threats of violence.
But Mr Whittle said full details were not shared with officers at the scene, meaning they were not adequately prepared for the risks they faced.
“It was fortunate that no police officers lost their lives that day,” he said.
The 2019 investigation focused on the police’s information gathering process before the siege and the decision to shoot Morgan.
Mr Whittle said: “The siege placed civilians in adjoining and adjoining rooms and surrounding properties at risk and fear.” he said.
“I cannot find any criticism of the serious decision to end the siege by taking the life of Mr. Morgan.”
He generally believed that the incident “could have been handled more safely” but could not conclude that Morgan’s death was preventable “other than by changing his own choices”.
There were no proposals that could contribute to improving public safety.
