Indian-American professor among 3 killed in US univ shooting

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Feb 13 (PTI) An Indian-American professor was
among three people killed when a woman teacher allegedly
opened fire during a faculty meeting at the University of
Alabama in the southern city of Huntsville.
Huntsville Police Chief Henry Reyes identified the
Indian-American professor as Gopi Podilla, who was the
Chairman of the biological sciences department.
The other two killed, Maria Davis and Adriel Johnson,
were associate professors of biology.
Three people were also injured in the incident on Friday
evening, local media reported. Of the wounded, two were
faculty members and the third was a staff member.
Reyes said a woman shooting suspect was in custody and a
second person was detained, but not arrested.
"We have a suspect and possible persons of interest," he
told reporters last night. "Until we go through everything,
we're not going to say exactly how many or who we have."
Police did not give the reason behind the incident, but
local television WAFF, citing authorities, earlier said the
woman shooter had opened fire after learning at a biology
faculty meeting that she would not be granted tenure.
The incident is reported to have occurred shortly before
4 p.m. in Shelby Hall in the university campus on Friday
evening.
Police arrived at the scene at 4:01 pm and residence
halls were locked down at 4:10 pm, Reyes said, adding the
building was secured by 5:45 pm. (More) PTI