History of Violence?

Accused Ala. Shooter Shot Brother in '86

Ruled accidental, but may have been arguing.

Amy Bishop, the 42-year-old biology professor who allegedly shot and killed three University of Alabama professors, and wounded three others, at a faculty meeting Friday was questioned by Massachusetts police more than 20 years ago after she fatally shot her brother. The police chief of Braintree, Massachusetts, announced Saturday that the case records of the death of Seth Bishop in 1986 are no longer available. (They’ve been missing since 1988.) Amy Bishop fired three shots at her brother, ran into the street, and was detained at gunpoint. She was then released into the custody of her mother. Police said it was an accident, and Bishop was never charged. She was then in her teens and her mother said she asked how to unload a 12-gauge shotgun, which went off in her hands, hitting her brother in the abdomen. But now the police chief says they believe they were having an argument. “The release of Ms. Bishop did not sit well with the police officers,” the police chief said, “and I can assure you that this would not happen in this day and age.” Bishop was also a suspect in the 1993 Harvard mail bombing that targeted a medical school professor.