Thaindian News

By Arun Kumar
Washington, Feb 15 (IANS) Three new charges of attempted murder have been added against a woman professor already under arrest for capital murder in the shooting of three colleagues including Indian American Gopi K. Podila.

Dr. Amy Bishop, 45, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist, is charged with killing three colleagues during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama Huntsville’s biological sciences department, and wounding three more, two of them critically.

Bishop was arrested without incident soon after the shooting at 4 p.m. She was booked into the Madison County metro jail at 9:52 p.m. on Friday and charged with a single count of capital murder. She is being held without bond. Her husband was detained and questioned by police, but was not charged, the Huntsville Times reported.

Bishop’s husband, James Anderson, told the Chronicle of Higher Education Sunday that he had no idea his wife had a gun, nor did he know of any plans to carry out the shooting when he dropped her off at a faculty meeting Friday. Anderson said his wife had an attorney but would not say who it was. Just after the shooting, she called and asked him to pick her up, Anderson told the Chronicle. She never mentioned the shooting, he said.

Besides Podila, 52, the chairman of the biology department, two others killed were, Maria Ragland Davis, 50, a professor who studied plant pathogens; and Adriel Johnson, 52, a cell biologist who also taught Boy Scouts about science.

Two of the wounded were Joseph Leahy, 50, a microbiologist, and Stephanie Monticciolo, 62, a staff assistant, both of whom were in critical condition. The third was Luis Cruz-Vera, 40, a molecular biologist, who was released from the hospital on Saturday.

Earlier Sunday, hundreds of faculty, students and friends attended a prayer vigil at the University Centre, reciting prayers for peace from five different religions, singing “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” and reading a statement from the student body in support of faculty members.

University President Dave Williams began the service by saying that grief had led to loss of sleep and loss of appetite across campus, but that shock was an appropriate counterbalance to selfish and destructive motives.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)