UGA

Professor Kills Three Off-Campus: UGA Alert Warns 20,000 About Fugitive Faculty

Saturday, April 25, 2009GAshootingtimely warningmedium confidence

Confirmed Threat

At approximately 12:25 PM EDT on April 25, 2009, UGA marketing professor George Zinkhan shot and killed his wife Marie Bruce and two Athens men, Tom Tanner and Ben Teague, at a Town and Gown Players theater picnic outside the Athens Community Theatre. Zinkhan then fled the scene. UGA deployed its two-year-old UGA Alert system at 1:55 PM EDT -- approximately 90 minutes after the shooting -- to warn over 20,000 students, faculty, and staff that a named, pictured faculty suspect remained at large and was considered dangerous. The case exposed the legal ambiguity of Clery timely-warning obligations when a faculty member commits violence off-campus but may return.

Alerts: 2
Response: —
Killed: 3
Injured: 2

Institution

University of Georgia

Public R1 · GA

~34,500 studentsUGA Alert

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMSApr 25, 2009, 5:55 PM EDT

Verified verbatimThe Phoenix (Swarthmore College), quoting UGA Alert verbatim from a student who received it418 chars

UGA Professor George Zinkhan is a suspect in a shooting off campus. George Zinkhan is a white male in his mid 50s with a goattee or beard. Current information is that he was last seen wearing a polo shirt, blue shorts, and a backpack. He was last thought to be in a red car in the area of Prince Avenue. Use extreme caution if contact is made. Call 911 if you know his location. Please do not call 911 for information.

Alert sent 90 minutes after the 12:25 PM EDT shooting -- the delay reflected UGA police's need to confirm Zinkhan's identity as the suspect before naming him publicly

Notably omits the word 'murder' or 'killed,' describing only 'a shooting off campus' -- a deliberate tactical decision to avoid tipping Zinkhan off that a manhunt was underway

Typo in original: 'goattee' (double-t) preserved as transmitted

Sent via text message, email, and phone to over 20,000 students, faculty, and staff via the UGA Alert system, established in 2007 after Virginia Tech

FOLLOW-UPEmailEvening of April 25, 2009, after Zinkhan remained at large

Approximate reconstruction496 chars

[UGA followed the initial UGA Alert with a campus-wide email on the evening of April 25, 2009, providing additional context: Zinkhan was a suspect in an off-campus shooting involving three fatalities, he had offices on the UGA campus and might be known to students, and the campus was being monitored. Students and faculty were advised to report any sighting to 911 immediately and not to attempt to confront him. UGA Police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were coordinating the manhunt.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The follow-up email added facts withheld from the initial SMS to avoid alerting Zinkhan -- including the three fatalities -- now that investigators believed he was no longer near campus

UGA made the deliberate choice in the first alert to omit names of victims and the fatality count, a controversial decision later debated in campus-safety literature

Context

Background

On April 25, 2009, George Zinkhan, a 57-year-old endowed marketing professor in UGA's Terry College of Business, attended a Town and Gown Players theater-group picnic at the Athens Community Theatre with his wife, Marie Bruce. Around 12:25 PM EDT he retrieved two handguns from a backpack, shot set designer Tom Tanner multiple times, then shot Ben Teague who tried to intervene, then reloaded and shot his wife Marie Bruce -- an Athens attorney -- near the theater's front entrance. He then fled in a red car. Two bystanders were also wounded. UGA's emergency notification team faced an immediate dilemma: the incident was off campus, but a named armed UGA professor with offices on campus remained at large and was considered dangerous. Acting under the post-Virginia-Tech UGA Alert system established in 2007, officials transmitted a text-message alert at 1:55 PM EDT -- 90 minutes after the shooting -- to more than 20,000 students, faculty, and staff, deliberately omitting the word 'killed' to avoid tipping Zinkhan off that a murder warrant was pending. The ensuing national manhunt lasted two weeks; Zinkhan's body was found May 9 in a self-dug grave. The case generated substantial debate in campus-safety circles about Clery timely-warning obligations when violence is committed off campus by a faculty member who remains a campus threat.

Outcome

Zinkhan eluded a two-week national manhunt. On May 9, 2009, his body was found in a self-dug grave behind a Watkinsville-area elementary school; he had shot himself in the head. Three victims killed: Marie Bruce, 47, an Athens attorney; Tom Tanner, 40, a set designer; Ben Teague, 63, a set designer.

Provenance

Sources

Source
George Zinkhan - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
national media
Georgia professor sought in shooting death of wife, two others - CNN
cnn.com
national media
Police, Feds Hunt Georgia Professor After Picnic Shooting Kills Three - ABC News
abcnews.go.com
Student Paper
Fifth year anniversary of shooting leaves many questions - Red and Black
redandblack.com
Student Paper
George Zinkhan '74: Professor-turned-Murder Suspect - The Phoenix (Swarthmore)
swarthmorephoenix.com
official statement
National manhunt ends for former faculty member - UGA Today
news.uga.edu

Alert Sequence

Background

Sources

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