ATHENS, Ga. — Authorities were on a nationwide manhunt for a University of Georgia professor in the shooting deaths of three people, including his ex-wife, Saturday at a community theater near campus.
Athens-Clarke County police Capt. Clarence Holeman said authorities were searching for 57-year-old George Zinkhan, who has been a marketing professor at the university in Athens since the 1990s.
Killed were Zinkhan’s ex-wife, Marie Bruce, 47; Tom Tanner, 40; and Ben Teague, 63, Holeman said. Both men were involved with Town & Gown Players Inc., a local theater group in Athens, about 70 miles east of Atlanta.
Holeman said the shooter 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 next door and left after saying there was an emergency. The children were with police.
Shortly after the incident, the university issued a campus-wide alert. Authorities searched Zinkhan’s office, but there were no immediate signs of him on campus.
The group’s performance Saturday night of “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” was canceled. Tanner was scheduled to portray the character of Dr. Watson in the play.
