Unfortunately, three people were shot and killed Saturday, April 25th while attending a picnic at the community theatre near the University of Georgia. In the report by the Associated Press on Saturday, officials are searching for a professor of the university who may be linked to one of the victims in the shooting.
Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson reported that the three were killed off campus around 12:30 p.m. but he had no further details to offer. Athens-Clarke Assistant Police Chief Alan Brown told reporters that the person they are seeking, George Zinkhan, marketing professor at the Athens campus, might be in possession of multiple weapons.
Officials have no idea why the shooting took place and they did not have any knowledge if the victims were students or faculty. Zinkhan had no previous records of discipline and was a well-liked professor about campus. He was a professor in the Terry College of Business and his records and credentials were impeccable.
Why would an otherwise, well respected and responsible professor at an honorable institution have weapons on hand and also choose to use them? One could only guess that it might be a romantic problem or worse yet a bullying problem. Was this a pre-meditated action or a spur of the moment act of weakness or vengeance? There have been many instances lately of students bringing weapons onto campuses and using them against faculty and students as well as themselves.
But no one can remember an instance of a faculty member bringing weapons onto campus and using them against his co-workers or students. It is unfathomable, but highly likely to occur these days in a society which is so tightly wrapped up in personal problems and work problems. With lay-offs at many campuses imminent it is quite possible that Zinkhan might have felt the economic pressures that we are all under.