2010 University of Alabama in Huntsville shooting
Encyclopedia
At the University of Alabama in Huntsville
in Huntsville, Alabama
, three people were killed and three others wounded in a shooting on February 12, 2010. During the course of a routine meeting of the biology department attended by approximately 12 individuals, a professor stood up and began shooting those closest to her with a 9-millimeter
handgun. Amy Bishop, a biology
professor
at the university and the sole suspect, has been charged with one count of capital murder
and three counts of attempted murder
; under Alabama
state law, she could be eligible for the death penalty
if convicted.
In March of 2009, Bishop had been denied tenure
at the university and was beginning her last semester there per university policy. Due to attention Bishop has attracted as a result of the shooting, previous incidents involving her and violence have been reevaluated. She previously drew the attention of law-enforcement officials in 1986 when she shot her brother to death in Braintree, Massachusetts
, in an incident officially ruled an accident. She, along with her husband, were questioned in a 1993 pipe-bomb
incident directed toward her then lab supervisor.
and neuroscience
s class. According to a student in Bishop's class, she "seemed perfectly normal" during the lecture.
She then attended a biology department faculty meeting in Room 369 on the third floor of the Shelby Center for Science and Technology, which houses the UAHuntsville Biology and Mathematics departments. According to witnesses 12 or 13 people attended the meeting, which was described as "an ordinary faculty meeting." Bishop's behavior was also described as "normal" just prior to the shooting.
She sat quietly at the meeting for 30 or 40 minutes, before pulling out a 9 mm
handgun
"just before" 4:00 p.m. CST, according to a faculty member. Joseph Ng, an associate professor who witnessed the attack, said: "[She] got up suddenly, took out a gun and started shooting at each one of us. She started with the one closest to her, and went down the row shooting her targets in the head." According to another survivor, Debra Moriarity, dean of the university's graduate program and a professor of biochemistry, "This wasn't random shooting around the room; this was execution style
." Those who were shot were on one side of the oval table used during the meeting, and the five individuals on the other side, including Ng, dropped to the floor.
After Bishop had fired several rounds, Moriarity said that Bishop pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger, but heard only a "click," as her gun "either jammed or ran out of ammunition." She described Bishop as initially appearing "angry", and then following the apparent weapon malfunction, "perplexed." Ng said Moriarity then attempted to stop Bishop, by approaching her and asking her to stop, and then helped the other survivors push Bishop from the room and block the door. Ng said: "Moriarity was probably the one that saved our lives. She was the one that initiated the rush."
The suspected murder weapon, a 9 mm handgun, was found in a bathroom on the second floor of the building. Bishop did not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, as required by state law. She was arrested a few minutes later outside the building. Shortly after her arrest, Bishop was quoted as saying, "It didn't happen. There's no way." When asked about the deaths of her colleagues, Bishop replied, "There's no way. They're still alive."
Police interviewed Bishop's husband, James Anderson, after it was determined that she had called him to pick her up after the shooting; they did not charge him with a crime. In addition, interviews with a neighbor revealed that he saw the couple leaving their home with duffel bags Friday afternoon, prior to the shooting. Anderson revealed that his wife had borrowed the gun used in the shooting, and that he had escorted her to an indoor shooting range
in the weeks prior to the incident.
Shortly after Bishop's arrest, people at the university's biology department expressed concern to police that she had "booby trap
ped the science building with a 'herpes
bomb'" intended to spread the virus. She had previously worked with the herpes virus while completing her post-doctoral studies, and a novel she wrote described the spread of a virus similar to herpes throughout the world "causing pregnant women to miscarry." However, the police had already searched the premises, finding only the handgun used in the shooting.
, and completed her undergraduate degree at Northeastern University in Boston
where her father, Samuel Bishop, was a Professor in the Art Department. She earned her Ph.D. in genetics
from Harvard University
. Bishop's 1993 thesis at Harvard was titled "The role of methoxatin (PQQ) in the respiratory burst of phagocytes", and was 137 pages in length. Her research interests include induction of adaptive resistance to nitric oxide
in the central nervous system
, and utilization of motor neuron
s for the development of neural circuits
grown on biological computer chips. She published at least four scientific articles between 1994 and 1998 as a lead or co-author.
She joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences at UAHuntsville as an Assistant Professor in 2003 and was teaching five courses prior to the shooting. Previously, she was an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School
. Bishop and her husband competed in a technology competition and developed a "portable cell incubator", coming in third and winning $25,000. Prodigy Biosystems, where Anderson is employed, raised $1.25 million to develop the "automated cell incubator," although, some scientists consulted by the press declared it unnecessary and too expensive.
According to a friend and fellow member of a writing group in Massachusetts, Bishop had penned three unpublished novels, one of which featured a female scientist working to defeat a potential pandemic
virus, and struggling with suicidal thoughts at the threat of not earning tenure. She is the second cousin of the novelist John Irving
and was a member of the Hamilton Writer's Group while living in Ipswich, Massachusetts
in the late 1990s and apparently saw writing as "her ticket out of academia". She had a literary agent and members of the club said she "would frequently cite her Harvard degree and family ties to Irving to boost her credential as a serious writer." Another member described Bishop as smart but abrasive in her interactions with the other members and as feeling "entitled to praise."
Multiple colleagues of Bishop had expressed concern over her behavior. She has been described as interrupting meetings with "bizarre tangents ... left field kind of stuff", being "strange", "crazy", "did things that weren't normal", and she was "out of touch with reality". One of these colleagues was a member of Bishop's tenure-review committee. After Bishop's tenure was denied and she learned that this colleague referred to her as "crazy", she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC), alleging gender discrimination
, with the professor's remark to be used as possible evidence in that case. The professor did not retract his comments: "The professor was given the opportunity to back off the claim, or to say it was a flippant remark. But he didn't. 'I said she was crazy multiple times and I stand by that,' the professor said. 'This woman has a pattern of erratic behavior. She did things that weren't normal ... she was out of touch with reality.'"
In 2009, several students say they complained to administrators about Bishop on at least three occasions, saying she was "ineffective in the classroom and had odd, unsettling ways." A petition was signed by "dozens of students", which was then sent to the department head. The complaints, however, did not result in any classroom changes.
Bishop was suspended without pay retroactively on the day of the attack, and later, in a one-paragraph letter dated Feb. 26, 2010, she was fired. Bishop received a letter of termination from Jack Fix, dean of the College of Sciences, which did not state a reason for doing so. Her termination was effective February 12, the day of the shooting.
in March 2009 and expected not to have her teaching contract renewed after March 2010. She appealed the decision to the University's administration and without reviewing the content of the tenure application itself, they determined that the process was carried out according to policy and denied the appeal. The faculty meeting that was under way when Bishop opened fire was a routine meeting unrelated to her tenure.
Anderson, Bishop's husband, said that the denial of her tenure had been "an issue" in recent months describing the tenure process as "a long, basically hard fight." He said that it was his understanding that she "exceeded the qualifications for tenure", and that she was distressed at the likelihood of losing her position barring a successful appeal. She approached members of the University of Alabama System
's Board of Trustees, and hired a lawyer who was "finding one problem after another with the process." One sticking point was a dispute over whether two of her papers had been published in time to count toward tenure.
. The incident, in which Bishop fired at least three shots from a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun (one into her bedroom wall, then one into her brother's chest while they were in the kitchen with their mother, and one into the ceiling of a room in her house while fleeing the scene), then later pointed the weapon at a moving vehicle on the adjacent road and tried to get into the vehicle, was initially classified as an "accident" by Braintree police. In statements to Braintree police that day, both Amy Bishop and her mother, Judy Bishop, described the shooting as accidental.
After a brief inquiry into the incident by the State Police in 1986 (reported in 1987) repeated the Braintree police department's initial assessment that the shooting was accidental, district attorney Bill Delahunt
, later a U.S. Congressman, decided not to file charges. Detailed records of the shooting had disappeared mysteriously by 1988, Braintree police chief Paul Frazier said on February 13, 2010; "The report's gone, removed from the files." After speaking with officers involved with the case in 1986 Frazier called the "accident" description inaccurate, and said that then-chief John Polio ordered Bishop released to her mother, a member of the Braintree town meeting
who reportedly had demanded to meet with Polio personally after the arrest, instead of being charged for the shooting. Frazier was not on duty during the incident, but recalled "how frustrated the members of the department were over the release". The now-retired Polio denied that there had been a cover-up. Frazier's 2010 account and the 1987 Massachusetts State Police
report differ in several key details, including whether Bishop had been arguing with her brother or with her father before the shooting.
On February 16, 2010 it was announced that the files previously declared missing had been located by Braintree officials and turned over to Norfolk County
prosecutors. Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating concluded, based upon these files, that probable cause
existed in 1986 to arrest and charge her for crimes committed after she fled the house. She had taken the shotgun to a nearby auto dealership shop and brandished it at two employees in an attempt to get a car. She could have been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of ammunition. The statute of limitations
has expired on each of these charges, and the most serious charge considered in 1986 was manslaughter
. Deval Patrick
, the governor of Massachusetts, has ordered the state police to review their efforts in the investigation saying, "It is critical that we provide as clear an understanding as possible about all aspects of this case and its investigation to ensure that where mistakes were made they are not repeated in the future." An investigation has been opened in which the state will cooperate with the current Norfolk County District Attorney's office to assess the state and local police and then-DA's handling of the case.
On February 25, 2010, District Attorney Keating sent a letter to District Court Judge Mark Coven, to start a judicial inquest
into the 1986 shooting. Keating said that recently enlarged crime scene photos from Bishop's bedroom reveal a news article in which a similar crime was reported and that this article may relate to Bishop's intent. Keating did not identify the specific news article, but The Boston Globe wrote that an internet search revealed that "two weeks earlier, the parents of the actor
who played Bobby Ewing on the popular television show Dallas
, were killed by an assailant wielding a 12-gauge shotgun, who then held up a car dealership, stole a pickup truck, and fled."
On March 1, 2010, former Massachusetts State Police Detective Brian Howe broke his silence about the case. Howe, who retired in 2009 and no longer lives in Massachusetts, was the lead investigator for the state police in the Bishop case. He said he looks forward to addressing the judicial inquest into the shooting, and stands by his 1987 report and his agreement with the now-deceased Braintree lead investigator, Captain Theodore Buker, that the shooting was accidental. Howe said that he was assigned to the case nearly two hours after the shooting and then immediately called Braintree, whereupon he learned from Buker he would not be needed that day and that Bishop had already been released into her parents' custody. Howe stated that Braintree police never informed him that Bishop had allegedly accosted employees at a car dealership at gunpoint, demanding a car. Howe stated that he repeatedly requested the December 6 incident reports from the Braintree police, but never received them.
On March 1, 2010, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating announced that an inquest would be held April 13–16, 2010. Judge Mark Coven, first justice of Quincy District Court, was scheduled to hold the inquest. On June 16, 2010, Bishop was charged with first degree murder in her brother's death nearly 24 years after his shooting. Keating commented, "I can't give you any explanations, I can't give you excuses, because there are none. Jobs weren't done, responsibilities weren't met and justice wasn't served."
professor and physician at Children's Hospital Boston
, received a package containing two pipe bomb
s that failed to explode.
Rosenberg was Bishop's supervisor at a Children's Hospital neurobiology
lab; Bishop had allegedly been concerned about receiving a negative evaluation from Rosenberg, and reportedly "had been in a dispute" with Rosenberg. Bishop resigned from her position at the hospital because Rosenberg felt she "could not meet the standards required for the work". According to documents based upon witness interviews, Bishop was "reportedly upset" and "on the verge of a nervous breakdown" as a result.
Anderson reportedly told a witness that he wanted to "shoot," "stab" or "strangle" Rosenberg prior to the attempted bombing. Anderson denied he had ever threatened Rosenberg saying, "I wouldn't know the guy if he walked into a bar. And allegedly this tip came into a tip line, and the validity of the witness was never ascertained." Per investigators, the USPIS
-ATF
investigation "focused" on Bishop and Anderson, but closed without charges filed due to lack of evidence. At one point during the investigation, the couple refused to cooperate with investigators, refusing to open their door to investigators, and refused searches of their home and polygraph tests.
The chief federal prosecutor in Boston, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, reviewed the case following the shooting but, ultimately decided Bishop would not be charged in the bombing attempt. He determined that the initial investigation in 1993 was "appropriate and thorough;" the case remains unsolved.
plus disorderly conduct
, and received probation
, for punching a woman who had received the last booster seat
at an International House of Pancakes
in Peabody, Massachusetts
. According to the police report, Bishop strode over to the other woman, demanded the seat, and launched into a profanity-laced rant. When the woman would not give the seat up, Bishop punched her in the head, all the while yelling "I am Dr. Amy Bishop." Bishop's victim was identified as Michelle Gjika, and she declined to comment saying, "It's not something I want to relive." In addition to probation, prosecutors recommended that Bishop attend anger management classes, although it is unclear whether the judge in the case ordered her to do so. Her husband said she had never attended anger management classes.
and three counts of attempted murder
. The tentative court hearing date was March 10, 2010. The police confiscated a large binder containing documents pertaining to her "tenure battle", her computer, and the family van. She has secured an unnamed attorney, and is being held at the Madison County, Alabama
jail without bail
. Her court appointed attorney was later identified as Roy W. Miller. If convicted, Bishop will be eligible for either the death penalty or life in prison, according to Alabama law.
On February 15, Bishop attended a closed-door hearing presided over by an Alabama judge, in which the charges were read to her. Madison County District Attorney Robert Broussard said that no court date had been set at Bishop's arraignment
in jail on February 15. , she was on suicide watch
, which is standard in similar cases. Her husband said she called him prior to her arraignment and they spoke for approximately two minutes and said, "She seems to be doing OK." On March 12, while executing a search warrant on Bishop's residence, the police discovered a "suspicious device" and called the bomb squad. The unidentified device was later determined to not have been explosive, but only after the street had been closed and nearby houses evacuated.
Miller visited her in jail and said she does not remember the shooting and was "very cogent" but seeming to recognize that "she has a loose grip on reality." Initially he said Bishop has severe mental health issues that appear to be paranoid schizophrenia, but later retracted that statement saying "he had spoken out of turn." He acknowledged Bishop's role in the attack saying, "This is not a whodunit
. This lady has committed this offense or offenses in front of the world. It gets to be a question in my mind of her mental capacity
at the time, or her mental state
at the time that these acts were committed." Miller also said he would be enlisting the help of one or more psychiatrist
s to examine his client who said this was not the first time she had no recollection of something that had happened. He said he did not know if Bishop was insane
and that determining whether she was culpable for her actions would be left to a psychiatrist and that she was "very sorry for what she's done."
On Friday, June 18, two days after Bishop was indicted for the murder of her brother in a re-opened case, she attempted suicide in the Huntsville jail at which she has been held since the shooting at UAHuntsville. She survived and was treated at a hospital and then returned to jail; her husband complained that authorities did not inform him of the incident.
In November 2010, survivors Leahy and Monticciolo filed lawsuits against Anderson and Bishop to recover damages. In January 2011, attorneys representing Davis's and Johnson's families filed wrongful death lawsuits against Bishop, Anderson, and the University. In September 2011, Bishop pled not guilty by means of the insanity defense.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
The University of Alabama in Huntsville is a state-supported, public, coeducational research university, located in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees, and is organized in five...
in Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
, three people were killed and three others wounded in a shooting on February 12, 2010. During the course of a routine meeting of the biology department attended by approximately 12 individuals, a professor stood up and began shooting those closest to her with a 9-millimeter
9 mm caliber
This article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the caliber range. The most prevalent of these rounds is the 9x19mm Parabellum.*Length refers to the cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the cartridge....
handgun. Amy Bishop, a biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the university and the sole suspect, has been charged with one count of capital murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and three counts of attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
; under Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
state law, she could be eligible for the death penalty
Capital punishment in the United States
Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
if convicted.
In March of 2009, Bishop had been denied tenure
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
at the university and was beginning her last semester there per university policy. Due to attention Bishop has attracted as a result of the shooting, previous incidents involving her and violence have been reevaluated. She previously drew the attention of law-enforcement officials in 1986 when she shot her brother to death in Braintree, Massachusetts
Braintree, Massachusetts
The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...
, in an incident officially ruled an accident. She, along with her husband, were questioned in a 1993 pipe-bomb
Pipe bomb
A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device, a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion, and the fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially...
incident directed toward her then lab supervisor.
Shooting
The day of the shooting, Bishop taught her anatomyAnatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
and neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
s class. According to a student in Bishop's class, she "seemed perfectly normal" during the lecture.
She then attended a biology department faculty meeting in Room 369 on the third floor of the Shelby Center for Science and Technology, which houses the UAHuntsville Biology and Mathematics departments. According to witnesses 12 or 13 people attended the meeting, which was described as "an ordinary faculty meeting." Bishop's behavior was also described as "normal" just prior to the shooting.
She sat quietly at the meeting for 30 or 40 minutes, before pulling out a 9 mm
9 mm caliber
This article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the caliber range. The most prevalent of these rounds is the 9x19mm Parabellum.*Length refers to the cartridge case length.*OAL refers to the overall length of the cartridge....
handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
"just before" 4:00 p.m. CST, according to a faculty member. Joseph Ng, an associate professor who witnessed the attack, said: "[She] got up suddenly, took out a gun and started shooting at each one of us. She started with the one closest to her, and went down the row shooting her targets in the head." According to another survivor, Debra Moriarity, dean of the university's graduate program and a professor of biochemistry, "This wasn't random shooting around the room; this was execution style
Execution-style murder
Execution-style murder, also known as Chicago-style murder, and execution-style killing are news media buzzwords applied to various acts of criminal murder where the perpetrator kills at close range a conscious victim who is under the complete physical control of the assailant and who has been left...
." Those who were shot were on one side of the oval table used during the meeting, and the five individuals on the other side, including Ng, dropped to the floor.
After Bishop had fired several rounds, Moriarity said that Bishop pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger, but heard only a "click," as her gun "either jammed or ran out of ammunition." She described Bishop as initially appearing "angry", and then following the apparent weapon malfunction, "perplexed." Ng said Moriarity then attempted to stop Bishop, by approaching her and asking her to stop, and then helped the other survivors push Bishop from the room and block the door. Ng said: "Moriarity was probably the one that saved our lives. She was the one that initiated the rush."
Police interviewed Bishop's husband, James Anderson, after it was determined that she had called him to pick her up after the shooting; they did not charge him with a crime. In addition, interviews with a neighbor revealed that he saw the couple leaving their home with duffel bags Friday afternoon, prior to the shooting. Anderson revealed that his wife had borrowed the gun used in the shooting, and that he had escorted her to an indoor shooting range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...
in the weeks prior to the incident.
Shortly after Bishop's arrest, people at the university's biology department expressed concern to police that she had "booby trap
Booby trap
A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is...
ped the science building with a 'herpes
Herpesviridae
The Herpesviridae are a large family of DNA viruses that cause diseases in animals, including humans. The members of this family are also known as herpesviruses. The family name is derived from the Greek word herpein , referring to the latent, recurring infections typical of this group of viruses...
bomb'" intended to spread the virus. She had previously worked with the herpes virus while completing her post-doctoral studies, and a novel she wrote described the spread of a virus similar to herpes throughout the world "causing pregnant women to miscarry." However, the police had already searched the premises, finding only the handgun used in the shooting.
Victims
Three faculty members were killed, and three others were injured. Only a few students were present in the building at the time of the shooting, and none were harmed. A memorial service was held at UAHuntsville on Friday, February 19, 2010, with 3,000 people in attendance.| Name | Position | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Gopi Podila G. K. Podila Gopi K. Podila was an Indian American biologist, noted academician, and faculty member at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He was one of three faculty members killed in a shooting allegedly by Amy Bishop at the university on February 12, 2010... |
chairman of biology department | deceased |
| Maria Ragland Davis Maria Ragland Davis Maria Ragland Davis was an American biologist and educator. She was associate professor of Biology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville where she studied molecular biology and plant genetics.-Life and career:... |
biology professor | deceased |
| Adriel D. Johnson, Sr. Adriel Johnson Adriel D. Johnson Sr. was an African-American biologist and faculty member at the University of Alabama in Huntsville whose research focused on areas of cell biology and nutritional physiology... |
biology professor | deceased |
| Luis Rogelio Cruz-Vera | biology professor | released from hospital February 13, 2010 |
| Joseph G. Leahy | biology professor | released from hospital April 14, 2010 |
| Stephanie Monticciolo | staff assistant | released from hospital March 29, 2010 |
Suspect
Amy Bishop (born: 24 April 1965 (age 46)) is married to James Anderson and is the mother of four children. She grew up in MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and completed her undergraduate degree at Northeastern University in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
where her father, Samuel Bishop, was a Professor in the Art Department. She earned her Ph.D. in genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Bishop's 1993 thesis at Harvard was titled "The role of methoxatin (PQQ) in the respiratory burst of phagocytes", and was 137 pages in length. Her research interests include induction of adaptive resistance to nitric oxide
Nitric oxide
Nitric oxide, also known as nitrogen monoxide, is a diatomic molecule with chemical formula NO. It is a free radical and is an important intermediate in the chemical industry...
in the central nervous system
Central nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
, and utilization of motor neuron
Motor neuron
In vertebrates, the term motor neuron classically applies to neurons located in the central nervous system that project their axons outside the CNS and directly or indirectly control muscles...
s for the development of neural circuits
Biological neural network
In neuroscience, a biological neural network describes a population of physically interconnected neurons or a group of disparate neurons whose inputs or signalling targets define a recognizable circuit. Communication between neurons often involves an electrochemical process...
grown on biological computer chips. She published at least four scientific articles between 1994 and 1998 as a lead or co-author.
She joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences at UAHuntsville as an Assistant Professor in 2003 and was teaching five courses prior to the shooting. Previously, she was an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
. Bishop and her husband competed in a technology competition and developed a "portable cell incubator", coming in third and winning $25,000. Prodigy Biosystems, where Anderson is employed, raised $1.25 million to develop the "automated cell incubator," although, some scientists consulted by the press declared it unnecessary and too expensive.
According to a friend and fellow member of a writing group in Massachusetts, Bishop had penned three unpublished novels, one of which featured a female scientist working to defeat a potential pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
virus, and struggling with suicidal thoughts at the threat of not earning tenure. She is the second cousin of the novelist John Irving
John Irving
John Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...
and was a member of the Hamilton Writer's Group while living in Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,987 at the 2000 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island...
in the late 1990s and apparently saw writing as "her ticket out of academia". She had a literary agent and members of the club said she "would frequently cite her Harvard degree and family ties to Irving to boost her credential as a serious writer." Another member described Bishop as smart but abrasive in her interactions with the other members and as feeling "entitled to praise."
Multiple colleagues of Bishop had expressed concern over her behavior. She has been described as interrupting meetings with "bizarre tangents ... left field kind of stuff", being "strange", "crazy", "did things that weren't normal", and she was "out of touch with reality". One of these colleagues was a member of Bishop's tenure-review committee. After Bishop's tenure was denied and she learned that this colleague referred to her as "crazy", she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an independent federal law enforcement agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, perceived intelligence,...
(EEOC), alleging gender discrimination
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
, with the professor's remark to be used as possible evidence in that case. The professor did not retract his comments: "The professor was given the opportunity to back off the claim, or to say it was a flippant remark. But he didn't. 'I said she was crazy multiple times and I stand by that,' the professor said. 'This woman has a pattern of erratic behavior. She did things that weren't normal ... she was out of touch with reality.'"
In 2009, several students say they complained to administrators about Bishop on at least three occasions, saying she was "ineffective in the classroom and had odd, unsettling ways." A petition was signed by "dozens of students", which was then sent to the department head. The complaints, however, did not result in any classroom changes.
Bishop was suspended without pay retroactively on the day of the attack, and later, in a one-paragraph letter dated Feb. 26, 2010, she was fired. Bishop received a letter of termination from Jack Fix, dean of the College of Sciences, which did not state a reason for doing so. Her termination was effective February 12, the day of the shooting.
Tenure denial and appeal
As explained by University president Williams, Bishop was denied tenureTenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
in March 2009 and expected not to have her teaching contract renewed after March 2010. She appealed the decision to the University's administration and without reviewing the content of the tenure application itself, they determined that the process was carried out according to policy and denied the appeal. The faculty meeting that was under way when Bishop opened fire was a routine meeting unrelated to her tenure.
Anderson, Bishop's husband, said that the denial of her tenure had been "an issue" in recent months describing the tenure process as "a long, basically hard fight." He said that it was his understanding that she "exceeded the qualifications for tenure", and that she was distressed at the likelihood of losing her position barring a successful appeal. She approached members of the University of Alabama System
University of Alabama System
The University of Alabama System consists of three public universities in Alabama, USA: The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa , The University of Alabama at Birmingham , and The University of Alabama in Huntsville...
's Board of Trustees, and hired a lawyer who was "finding one problem after another with the process." One sticking point was a dispute over whether two of her papers had been published in time to count toward tenure.
Previous incidents
Bishop had previous encounters with law enforcement officials due to "an outburst or violent act" on her part. In each instance, she remained "unscathed" and did not come to the attention of the UAHuntsville administration or other employers. She shot her brother with a shotgun, killing him, in 1986, in what was initially ruled an accident based on her mother's testimony and was therefore not charged. In 1994, she and her husband were questioned regarding a letter-bomb incident involving a doctor at a facility at which she had previously been employed. She was charged with assault after striking a woman in the head during a dispute at a restaurant in 2002, but was never officially found guilty.Brother's shooting
When she was 21, Bishop fatally shot her 18-year-old brother, Seth Bishop, on December 6, 1986 at their home in Braintree, MassachusettsBraintree, Massachusetts
The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...
. The incident, in which Bishop fired at least three shots from a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun (one into her bedroom wall, then one into her brother's chest while they were in the kitchen with their mother, and one into the ceiling of a room in her house while fleeing the scene), then later pointed the weapon at a moving vehicle on the adjacent road and tried to get into the vehicle, was initially classified as an "accident" by Braintree police. In statements to Braintree police that day, both Amy Bishop and her mother, Judy Bishop, described the shooting as accidental.
After a brief inquiry into the incident by the State Police in 1986 (reported in 1987) repeated the Braintree police department's initial assessment that the shooting was accidental, district attorney Bill Delahunt
Bill Delahunt
William D. Delahunt is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Delahunt did not seek re-election in 2010, and left Congress in January 2011. He was replaced by Norfolk County District Attorney Bill Keating...
, later a U.S. Congressman, decided not to file charges. Detailed records of the shooting had disappeared mysteriously by 1988, Braintree police chief Paul Frazier said on February 13, 2010; "The report's gone, removed from the files." After speaking with officers involved with the case in 1986 Frazier called the "accident" description inaccurate, and said that then-chief John Polio ordered Bishop released to her mother, a member of the Braintree town meeting
Town meeting
A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....
who reportedly had demanded to meet with Polio personally after the arrest, instead of being charged for the shooting. Frazier was not on duty during the incident, but recalled "how frustrated the members of the department were over the release". The now-retired Polio denied that there had been a cover-up. Frazier's 2010 account and the 1987 Massachusetts State Police
Massachusetts State Police
The Massachusetts State Police is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state...
report differ in several key details, including whether Bishop had been arguing with her brother or with her father before the shooting.
On February 16, 2010 it was announced that the files previously declared missing had been located by Braintree officials and turned over to Norfolk County
Norfolk County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Adams National Historical Park* Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area * Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site* John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site-Demographics:...
prosecutors. Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating concluded, based upon these files, that probable cause
Probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the...
existed in 1986 to arrest and charge her for crimes committed after she fled the house. She had taken the shotgun to a nearby auto dealership shop and brandished it at two employees in an attempt to get a car. She could have been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of ammunition. The statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
has expired on each of these charges, and the most serious charge considered in 1986 was manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. Deval Patrick
Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton...
, the governor of Massachusetts, has ordered the state police to review their efforts in the investigation saying, "It is critical that we provide as clear an understanding as possible about all aspects of this case and its investigation to ensure that where mistakes were made they are not repeated in the future." An investigation has been opened in which the state will cooperate with the current Norfolk County District Attorney's office to assess the state and local police and then-DA's handling of the case.
On February 25, 2010, District Attorney Keating sent a letter to District Court Judge Mark Coven, to start a judicial inquest
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
into the 1986 shooting. Keating said that recently enlarged crime scene photos from Bishop's bedroom reveal a news article in which a similar crime was reported and that this article may relate to Bishop's intent. Keating did not identify the specific news article, but The Boston Globe wrote that an internet search revealed that "two weeks earlier, the parents of the actor
Patrick Duffy
Patrick George Duffy is an American character actor of stage and film. He is best known for his role on the CBS television drama Dallas, where he played Bobby Ewing from 1978 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1991, Duffy returns to reprise his role as Bobby in a new up-to-date Dallas currently scheduled to...
who played Bobby Ewing on the popular television show Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
, were killed by an assailant wielding a 12-gauge shotgun, who then held up a car dealership, stole a pickup truck, and fled."
On March 1, 2010, former Massachusetts State Police Detective Brian Howe broke his silence about the case. Howe, who retired in 2009 and no longer lives in Massachusetts, was the lead investigator for the state police in the Bishop case. He said he looks forward to addressing the judicial inquest into the shooting, and stands by his 1987 report and his agreement with the now-deceased Braintree lead investigator, Captain Theodore Buker, that the shooting was accidental. Howe said that he was assigned to the case nearly two hours after the shooting and then immediately called Braintree, whereupon he learned from Buker he would not be needed that day and that Bishop had already been released into her parents' custody. Howe stated that Braintree police never informed him that Bishop had allegedly accosted employees at a car dealership at gunpoint, demanding a car. Howe stated that he repeatedly requested the December 6 incident reports from the Braintree police, but never received them.
On March 1, 2010, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating announced that an inquest would be held April 13–16, 2010. Judge Mark Coven, first justice of Quincy District Court, was scheduled to hold the inquest. On June 16, 2010, Bishop was charged with first degree murder in her brother's death nearly 24 years after his shooting. Keating commented, "I can't give you any explanations, I can't give you excuses, because there are none. Jobs weren't done, responsibilities weren't met and justice wasn't served."
Pipe-bomb incident
According to investigators, Bishop and husband, James Anderson, were suspects in a 1993 letter-bomb case. Paul Rosenberg, a Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
professor and physician at Children's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Boston is a 396-licensed bed children's hospital in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts.At 300 Longwood Avenue, Children's is adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical School, and to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute...
, received a package containing two pipe bomb
Pipe bomb
A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device, a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion, and the fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially...
s that failed to explode.
Rosenberg was Bishop's supervisor at a Children's Hospital neurobiology
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
lab; Bishop had allegedly been concerned about receiving a negative evaluation from Rosenberg, and reportedly "had been in a dispute" with Rosenberg. Bishop resigned from her position at the hospital because Rosenberg felt she "could not meet the standards required for the work". According to documents based upon witness interviews, Bishop was "reportedly upset" and "on the verge of a nervous breakdown" as a result.
Anderson reportedly told a witness that he wanted to "shoot," "stab" or "strangle" Rosenberg prior to the attempted bombing. Anderson denied he had ever threatened Rosenberg saying, "I wouldn't know the guy if he walked into a bar. And allegedly this tip came into a tip line, and the validity of the witness was never ascertained." Per investigators, the USPIS
United States Postal Inspection Service
The United States Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. Its jurisdiction is defined as "crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S...
-ATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
investigation "focused" on Bishop and Anderson, but closed without charges filed due to lack of evidence. At one point during the investigation, the couple refused to cooperate with investigators, refusing to open their door to investigators, and refused searches of their home and polygraph tests.
The chief federal prosecutor in Boston, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, reviewed the case following the shooting but, ultimately decided Bishop would not be charged in the bombing attempt. He determined that the initial investigation in 1993 was "appropriate and thorough;" the case remains unsolved.
International House of Pancakes assault
In 2002, Bishop was charged with and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assaultAssault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
plus disorderly conduct
Disorderly conduct
Disorderly conduct is a criminal charge in most jurisdictions in the United States. Typically, disorderly conduct makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to "disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain areas. Many types of unruly conduct may fit the definition of disorderly conduct, as such...
, and received probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
, for punching a woman who had received the last booster seat
High chair
A high chair is a piece of furniture used for feeding older babies and younger toddlers. The seat is raised a fair distance from the ground, so that a person of adult height may spoon-feed the child comfortably from a standing position. It often has a wide base to increase stability...
at an International House of Pancakes
IHOP
IHOP may refer to:* IHOP, a restaurant chain, formerly known as The International House of Pancakes* International House of Prayer, a Christian 24/7 prayer center in Kansas City, Missouri...
in Peabody, Massachusetts
Peabody, Massachusetts
Peabody is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population is about 53,000. Peabody is located in Boston's North Shore suburban area.- History :...
. According to the police report, Bishop strode over to the other woman, demanded the seat, and launched into a profanity-laced rant. When the woman would not give the seat up, Bishop punched her in the head, all the while yelling "I am Dr. Amy Bishop." Bishop's victim was identified as Michelle Gjika, and she declined to comment saying, "It's not something I want to relive." In addition to probation, prosecutors recommended that Bishop attend anger management classes, although it is unclear whether the judge in the case ordered her to do so. Her husband said she had never attended anger management classes.
Charges
Bishop has been charged with one count of capital murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and three counts of attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
. The tentative court hearing date was March 10, 2010. The police confiscated a large binder containing documents pertaining to her "tenure battle", her computer, and the family van. She has secured an unnamed attorney, and is being held at the Madison County, Alabama
Madison County, Alabama
Madison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the...
jail without bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. Her court appointed attorney was later identified as Roy W. Miller. If convicted, Bishop will be eligible for either the death penalty or life in prison, according to Alabama law.
On February 15, Bishop attended a closed-door hearing presided over by an Alabama judge, in which the charges were read to her. Madison County District Attorney Robert Broussard said that no court date had been set at Bishop's arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
in jail on February 15. , she was on suicide watch
Suicide watch
Suicide watch is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that an individual does not die by suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital, or military bases...
, which is standard in similar cases. Her husband said she called him prior to her arraignment and they spoke for approximately two minutes and said, "She seems to be doing OK." On March 12, while executing a search warrant on Bishop's residence, the police discovered a "suspicious device" and called the bomb squad. The unidentified device was later determined to not have been explosive, but only after the street had been closed and nearby houses evacuated.
Miller visited her in jail and said she does not remember the shooting and was "very cogent" but seeming to recognize that "she has a loose grip on reality." Initially he said Bishop has severe mental health issues that appear to be paranoid schizophrenia, but later retracted that statement saying "he had spoken out of turn." He acknowledged Bishop's role in the attack saying, "This is not a whodunit
Whodunit
A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...
. This lady has committed this offense or offenses in front of the world. It gets to be a question in my mind of her mental capacity
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
at the time, or her mental state
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
at the time that these acts were committed." Miller also said he would be enlisting the help of one or more psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
s to examine his client who said this was not the first time she had no recollection of something that had happened. He said he did not know if Bishop was insane
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
and that determining whether she was culpable for her actions would be left to a psychiatrist and that she was "very sorry for what she's done."
On Friday, June 18, two days after Bishop was indicted for the murder of her brother in a re-opened case, she attempted suicide in the Huntsville jail at which she has been held since the shooting at UAHuntsville. She survived and was treated at a hospital and then returned to jail; her husband complained that authorities did not inform him of the incident.
In November 2010, survivors Leahy and Monticciolo filed lawsuits against Anderson and Bishop to recover damages. In January 2011, attorneys representing Davis's and Johnson's families filed wrongful death lawsuits against Bishop, Anderson, and the University. In September 2011, Bishop pled not guilty by means of the insanity defense.
External links
- UAH Shooting coverage The Huntsville TimesThe Huntsville TimesThe Huntsville Times is the daily morning newspaper published in Huntsville, Alabama, and also serves the surrounding areas of north Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The Times formerly operated as an afternoon paper, but moved to mornings after The Huntsville News ceased publication...
- Times Topics: Amy Bishop The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Details of the Amy Bishop case The Boston GlobeThe Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
- Amy Bishop faculty web page UAHUniversity of Alabama in HuntsvilleThe University of Alabama in Huntsville is a state-supported, public, coeducational research university, located in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees, and is organized in five...
(archived)