Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ Salisbury, N.C. is once again in the news for a shooting, this one taking place in 1996 when ex-Rowan County Sheriff’s Special Deputy Donald Ray Morgan, alleged ISIS Terrorist Group Sympathizer, shot up “Las Palmas Restaurant” on what is now Brick Street. At the time Donald Ray Morgan sent about 100 Las Palmas Restaurant patrons into a panic when he fired three 9mm Glock rounds through a glass door into the bar area. One patron was nicked in the neck by shattered glass. A friend, eating in the restaurant, pulled her sister down behind the bar area when she heard a glock’s pop–pop-pop and patrons screaming as they dove for cover on the floor.
Donald Ray Morgan, 26, at the time and living on 3121 Hodge Street in Rowan County, wound up being charged that night carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a weapon into an occupied space. His brother Lenny Richard Morgan, 21, got charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a Tarus 9mm handgun.
The Morgan brothers arrived at Las Palmas that Saturday night at around 11 p.m. Big brother Donald Ray Morgan had just been kicked out of a rock concert in Charlotte called: “The Weenie Roast”. Alleged to be extremely high on his arrival at Las Palmas, the future alleged ISIS terrorist sympathizer, made strange requests of the bar patrons. “Have you ever bitten anyone until they bled?”
Donald Ray became more agitated when Las Palmas refused to sell the brothers alcohol. Mr. Morgan with little warning sprang at a patron and began choking him before employees subdued him and took the now international celebrity outside. Right away Mr. Morgan threatened to return with a gun. It didn’t take long. The Morgan brothers returned with Donald Ray Morgan shot through Las Palmas’s glass door while brother Lenny fired into the air.
The Salisbury Police soon arrived. The Morgan Brothers were carted off to the magistrate’s office where he admitted he fired into the restaurant. His bond was set at $20,000 dollars while his brother got a $1,000 bond for their Saturday night spree in the Bury.
Donald Ray Morgan, now 44 and an alleged ISIS Terrorist Group sympathizer, was arrested on August 2nd at NYC’s J.F.K. International Airport after arriving from Frankfurt, Germany. Mr. Morgan was charged with illegal weapons possessions in North Carolina. Federal prosecutors said Morgan was involved in weapons trafficking in violation of his probation from a previous felony conviction. Morgan’s online activities, including Twitter “Tweets” in support of the ISIS Terrorist network, drew Federal attention. Prosecutors believe Morgan may be more of an “aspirational supporter”.
Mr. Morgan is in route to Greensboro, N.C. where he faces the weapons charge.
