Student guns down professor, kills self at University of Arkansas

Student guns down professor, kills self at University of Arkansas
REUTERS

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS, AUG 29: A Gunman believed to be a graduate student committed suicide on Monday after killing a professor of English on the first day of fall classes at the University of Arkansas, police and campus officials said.

The unnamed assailant entered Kimpel Hall, which houses the English, journalism and foreign language departments, around noon (1700 GMT), went to the professor's office on the third floor and shot him to death.

"We are deeply distressed to have learned about a terrible tragedy involving two individuals who died as victims of an apparent murder-suicide pact," Chancellor John White said. "We believe the two persons killed are a faculty member and a graduate student," White said. Police said they did not yet know the killer's motive.

"We haven't made any determination of exactly what happened in that room or why. There were no surviving witnesses," Lt Gary Crain of the university police said. A handgun of unspecified calibre was used for the killings.

President Bill Clinton, travelling in Africa, issued a statement saying that he and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, both of whom have taught at the university, were "shocked and heartbroken to learn of the tragic shooting".

"While our understanding of the acts in this case is still developing, we know that two more lives were taken on a day that should have been filled with hope and promise for students and faculty," Clinton said on arrival in Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The Clintons sent their "heartfelt thoughts and prayers" to the bereaved families, the university and the Fayetteville community.

Clinton said Federal Law Enforcement officials were helping local authorities in their investigation.

Neither of the men involved was immediately identified by police, but a local television station named the English professor as John Locke, 67, who had been on the faculty since 1967.

Fayetteville, in northwest Arkansas, is home to the main campus of the University of Arkansas.

White said the university was asking students to call home to tell their families they were unharmed.