Georgia professor sought in shootings

Authorities were on a nationwide manhunt Saturday for a University of Georgia professor in the shooting deaths of three people, including his ex-wife, at a community theater near campus.

Athens-Clarke County Police Capt. Clarence Holeman said authorities were searching for a suspect, 57-year-old George Zinkhan, who has been a marketing professor at the university in Athens since the 1990s, and lived about seven miles from campus.

Killed were Zinkhan’s ex-wife, Marie Bruce, 47, Tom Tanner, 40, and Ben Teague, 63, Holeman said. All three were involved with a theater group in Athens, about 70 miles east of Atlanta.

The shooting happened outside the Athens Community Theater during a midday gathering of Town & Gown Players Inc. Holeman said Zinkhan left his two young children in the car when he opened fire on the group.

A neighbor of Zinkhan’s in nearby Bogart said the professor later dropped off the children with him and left after saying there was an emergency. The children were with police.

Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said the three victims were shot multiple times.

Two other people were injured by shrapnel; their conditions were not immediately known.

University spokesman Pete Konenkamp said that Zinkhan was a professor in the Terry College of Business and had no disciplinary problems. “He’s a respected professor on campus,” Konenkamp said.

Authorities issued a nationwide alert for Zinkhan and his 2005 red Jeep Liberty.

Zinkhan also has a house in Amsterdam, and authorities were keeping a lookout at airports. Also, police in Austin, Texas, have been alerted because Zinkhan has family there.