UGA professor shoots five, kills three in Athens
Matthew Chambers
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Campus News
Just 71.7 miles north of Milledgeville, a University of Georgia professor murdered three people. On April 25, at 12:25 p.m., marketing professor George Zinkhan III shot and killed his wife, Marie E. Bruce, 47, along with Ben Teague, 63, and Thomas Cole Tanner, 40. The shootings happened outside the Athens Community Theater, off Prince Avenue near downtown Athens. Two other individuals were injured and transferred to St. Mary's Hospital, but have now been released.
Zinkhan, 57, fired two guns at the victims during a reunion of former and current members of the Town and Gown Players, while actors were preparing for an evening performance of "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure."
Then, Zinkhan fled the scene in his red Jeep Liberty with his kids in the car. After the shooting, Zinkhan drove to a neighbor's house and dropped off his 8-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, claiming he needed to leave them because of an emergency.
There have been no confirmed sightings of Zinkhan since he left his children at his neighbor's house. On Monday, Federal authorities said Zinkhan has a ticket for a May 5 flight to the Netherlands, where he has a home. Authorities have yet to find Zinkhan's passport in their searches.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Middle District Court of Georgia, Zinkhan has not used any of his cell phones, including a new Verizon phone purchased for use outside the country. The complaint also said that Zinkhan "has not had contact with any known family, associates or students."
The University of Georgia sent a text message around 2 p.m., alerting students that a UGA professor was a suspect in an off-campus shooting. The message urged students to call 911 if they spotted Zinkhan. University police also patrolled the campus Monday with semiautomatic weapons in an effort to provide extra security to students in wake of the weekend's event.
Zinkhan, 57, fired two guns at the victims during a reunion of former and current members of the Town and Gown Players, while actors were preparing for an evening performance of "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure."
Then, Zinkhan fled the scene in his red Jeep Liberty with his kids in the car. After the shooting, Zinkhan drove to a neighbor's house and dropped off his 8-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, claiming he needed to leave them because of an emergency.
There have been no confirmed sightings of Zinkhan since he left his children at his neighbor's house. On Monday, Federal authorities said Zinkhan has a ticket for a May 5 flight to the Netherlands, where he has a home. Authorities have yet to find Zinkhan's passport in their searches.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Middle District Court of Georgia, Zinkhan has not used any of his cell phones, including a new Verizon phone purchased for use outside the country. The complaint also said that Zinkhan "has not had contact with any known family, associates or students."
The University of Georgia sent a text message around 2 p.m., alerting students that a UGA professor was a suspect in an off-campus shooting. The message urged students to call 911 if they spotted Zinkhan. University police also patrolled the campus Monday with semiautomatic weapons in an effort to provide extra security to students in wake of the weekend's event.
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Danielle
posted 5/03/09 @ 6:53 PM EST
He didn't shoot 5 people. He fired 8 times, killing 3 people. Two others were injured from bullets that ricocheted.
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