Shooting at Univ. Alabama Huntsville (merged thread folds in Parents Cafe comments)

<p>I can’t wait to hear her take on why she did it, but I’m guessing that will not happen for quite some time, if ever.</p>

<p>‘Oddball’ portrait of Amy Bishop emerges
Suspect’s family, pals offer clues
By Laurel J. Sweet, Jessica Van Sack, Jessica Fargen and Ira Kantor
Monday, February 15, 2010 - Updated 10h ago</p>

<p>As authorities searched for clues into what could have sent a University of Alabama neurobiology professor on an alleged killing spree, friends and family yesterday described Braintree native Amy Bishop as an awkward introvert on the brink of losing her teaching job.</p>

<p>Bishop’s husband, James Anderson, told the Herald his wife had been fighting the university for over a year about a tenure denial, and several months ago received a final decision. She was upset, but not overly emotional, approaching her appeal “like a game of chess,” he said.</p>

<p>More: [‘Oddball</a>’ portrait of Amy Bishop emerges - BostonHerald.com](<a href=“http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1232943&srvc=home&position=emailed]‘Oddball”>http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1232943&srvc=home&position=emailed)</p>

<p>Does anyone recall reading about the 1986 shooting, if her argument had been with her brother or with her father who left the house before the shooting?</p>

<p>Am I the only one who wonders why a family living in the city would have a pump action shotgun in case of burglary?</p>

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<p>Why not? The shotgun is pretty much as standard as it gets as far as home defense weapons go.</p>

<p>Interesting blog by someone who says he went to school with Bishop and her brother:</p>

<p>[The</a> Secret Sun: Crimes, Cover-ups and Fringe Science (UPDATE 2/15)](<a href=“http://secretsun.blogspot.com/2010/02/crimes-cover-ups-and-fringe-science.html]The”>The Secret Sun: Crimes, Cover-ups and Fringe Science)</p>

<p>The DA’s report says the argument was with her father. The current police chief says a patrolman who answered the call told him that the argument was with her brother.</p>

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<p>Pistol and Pawn? What a business model. Is he gonna branch out and add a saloon and a beef jerky stand?</p>

<p>[Larry’s</a> Pistol and Pawn | Huntsville, AL](<a href=“http://www.pistolandpawn.com/]Larry’s”>http://www.pistolandpawn.com/)</p>

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>Hey…I’ve been there. It’s actually a pretty decent place. Although is scares the heck out of me when I’m there…all those people with firearms. The few times I’ve been there, I’ve done my practice and then waited in the car for my H to finish. </p>

<p>*Am I the only one who wonders why a family living in the city would have a pump action shotgun in case of burglary? *</p>

<p>Shotguns are often home defense weapons for two reasons…</p>

<p>1) you don’t have to be that accurate if you use buckshot.</p>

<p>2) if an intruder hears the pump action, that can be enough to scare them away.</p>

<p>When I was a young mom, the boyfriend of a neighbor started stalking me to the point of pounding on my front door, my roof, and the side of my home. He’d follow me with his car and even turned off the master switch of my home’s electricity. My H bought me a shotgun and “made” me learn how to use it. I cried the first time I fired it.</p>

<p>"Pistol and Pawn? "</p>

<p>Common combination in the South.</p>

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Kind of like hush puppies and fried catfish… LOL</p>

<p>You know you’re in the south when you pass a graveyard and the sign says, Coon Dog Cemetery.
<a href=“http://huntsville.about.com/od/daytrips/ss/coondogs.htm[/url]”>http://huntsville.about.com/od/daytrips/ss/coondogs.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Why is Bishop’s page the only thing that works at the UAH Bio Dept. webpage? If they took it off the Internet because of what happened, why didn’t they just remove the whole department?</p>

<p>*When [Amy Bishop] called [her husband] less than an hour after he dropped her off for the faculty meeting Friday, Anderson said, Bishop made no mention of the shootings and told him they were still on for their date night. *</p>

<p>Amazing…this woman shoots several people (killing three), then calls her husband to pick her up and tells him that they’re “still on for their date night.” ??? </p>

<p>This is some kind of sociopathic, anti-social, borderline personality behavior.</p>

<p>I don’t know if a crime author could write a story this detailed. I am just amazed at the details being discovered for this horrible crime.</p>

<p>Clarifying some previous posts, an adjunct instructor teaches only a couple of classes and generally receives few benefits. However, the position allows some professionals to come in and teach the subjects they deal with every day, like introductory law. There are also some professors that teach overloads; the overload part is generally considered an adjunct position, but I have even seen it classified as moonlighting. As for a combination pawn shop and shooting range, it’s quite common. Most all the pawn shops I’ve been to sell gun, so why not expand the business? It’s not like on King of the Hill when Peggy and Dale start selling guns in Peggy’s bookstore.</p>

<p>I’m a student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and we feel very sad due to the events at our sister school. Oddly enough, we were having discussions about allowing concealed carry on campus a couple weeks ago and it seemed like it the idea was inching forward. Now, I don’t think it will become a reality. Alabama can control who gets a concealed weapons permit, but it seems that it only has a few restrictions on who can get a permit. I’m pretty sure that Bishop could have obtained the gun legally. </p>

<p>While I doubt that Bishop could be declared temporarily insane, I remember being told that Alabama has no facility for violently insane females. If she was deemed not to be violent, just insane, she would be placed in a facility that is currently right next to my campus, which would be a terrible idea. I don’t know about Massachusetts Law, but maybe she can still be tried for killing her brother. Then, Massachusetts could help pay the cost of her incarceration. While many people feel that she rightfully deserves the death penalty, we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of plea bargain she gets.</p>

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<p>Lead poisoning causing kids’ violence in Bishop’s hometown? Truly bizarre.
[The</a> Secret Sun: Crimes, Cover-ups and Fringe Science (UPDATE 2/15)](<a href=“http://secretsun.blogspot.com/2010/02/crimes-cover-ups-and-fringe-science.html]The”>The Secret Sun: Crimes, Cover-ups and Fringe Science)</p>

<p>Sounds like a big stretch to me! A lot of the comments there seem to be definitely on the “fringe,” as the blog title says – like one who tried to make a connection by saying something to the effect that “the luger who died was ranked 44th in the world, and Amy Bishop is 44 years old!! Coincidence? I think not!” Unless they were joking, of course.</p>

<p>I think there’s already been way too much for a single Law and Order episode. It would have to be a three-parter, at least.</p>

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<p>Ah, don’t you see the irony here?</p>

<p>Pistol and Pawn doesn’t surprise me so much. Drive-though liquor stores, however, were quite another story.</p>

<p>Drive-thru liquor stores!!! </p>

<p>Hey, does Texas still let you have open containers while driving?</p>

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just speculating here but Massachusetts has or at least had very strict handgun control laws. The family could have bought a shotgun because it was more expedient than a handgun.</p>

<p>Her husband is seriously creepy. I find it hard to believe he knew nothing. He was dating her when she shot her brother and was also questioned about the pipe bomb.
I can’t figure out what it is he actually does. Works for their “company”?</p>

<p>I thought that I read that her husband also worked for U of Alabama, perhaps even in the department where she worked. Not unusual for universities to find jobs for professors’ spouses.</p>