American Crime Story: Harvard Educated Killer

The Descent of Professor Amy Bishop

In 2003 the Biology Department at University of Alabama in Huntsville welcomed a new instructor. Professor Amy Bishop seemed to have everything they were looking for. She had a PH.D. in genetics from Harvard University and had been an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Not to mention a loving husband and four children. She seemed like she would be a great fit for the school. However once they hired her they saw another side. Professor Bishop was an extreme narcissist who constantly bragged about her Harvard Education and family ties. She soon proved to be a terrible teacher described by her students as ineffective in the classroom and frequently angry and argumentative. Because of this several students lodged complaints with the biology department asking for her termination. At the same time the university found out about Amy´s temper when they learned about an incident that happened at an IHOP back when she and her family were living in Massachusetts. When she found at another woman had gotten the last booster seat, she walked over to the woman´s table where she was eating with her children and launched into a profanity laced rant demanding the booster seat. When the woman refused Amy attacked her and punched her in the head all while yelling ¨I am Dr. Amy Bishop¨ When the university found out about this incident it was the last straw and they proceeded to denied her tenure in 2009. Amy knew that she would not have her teaching contract renewed in 2010 but she wouldn´t let that happen. It was time for who to get revenge on all the people who were (in her mind) holding her down because she was smarter than them. On February 12, 2010 she attended a routine faculty meeting of the biology department. The meeting went completely normally for the first have and Amy said nothing. Halfway through the meeting, Amy pulled out a handgun and opened fire and the biology faculty killing three and wounding another three. She would´ve killed more but before she could her gun jammed. She was arrested by police (who she demanded call her Dr. Amy Bishop) and was sentenced to Life in Prison without parole in 2012. It may not be her first time killing as in 1986 she shot and killed her brother in what was ruled an accident (her parents connections may´ve influenced that ruling.)