U. of Alabama “killer denied tenure”: far-left extremist with troubling history [UPDATED]

We previously reported on a woman assistant professor named Amy Bishop at U. of Alabama, Huntsville, who was denied tenure and subsequently went into a faculty meeting and opened fire, killing 3 and wounding 3 more, of which 2 critically. Since then, some rather “interesting” details have emerged:

• The Boston Herald reports “A family source said Bishop, a mother of four children – the youngest a third-grade boy – was a far-left political extremist who was “obsessed” with President Obama to the point of being off-putting.”
  This actually begs the question: did she worship him, or did she hate him for not being leftist enough?
• Instapundit pointed out earlier that her ratemyprofessors.com reviews include comments about her “socialist” views. Relevant to this shooting? Maybe not. But, as an Insty reader emailed him: “I’m guessing the ’she’s a socialist’ part won’t get talked about much in the MSM. But if she had been a conservative it’d lead every evening news cast for two months.” Not just the MSM, but blogging huskies too.
• The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interview with the husband., who claims he did not even know she owned a gun and that nothing in her behavior pointed to such an act.
• However, she apparently shot and killed her brother back in 1986. (More here and here. UPDATE: original police report here.) The shooting was ruled accidental. The DA at the time? Current lefty congressman Bill Delahunt, who appears to think Thugo Chavez isn’t all that bad. Meanwhile, Delahunt says he may not run for re-election. (UPDATE via Gateway Pundit: Bishop’s mother was apparently in politics at the time, and Delahunt was accused earlier of being soft on crime.)
• Bishop and her husband were earlier investigated as suspects in the attempted bombing of a Harvard professor. “Amy Bishop and her husband, James Anderson, were questioned after a package containing two bombs was sent to the Newton home of Dr. Paul Rosenberg, a professor and doctor at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. It was the second startling revelation in two days about the past of Bishop, who is accused of fatally shooting three colleagues and wounding three others Friday afternoon at a faculty meeting on the University of Alabama’s Huntsville, Ala. campus.” She apparently suspected the professor might be critical of her Ph.D. work.
• Insty snarkily points out that if you’re in trouble, you’d want a Delahunt in your corner. (Referring to Delahunt’s cousin, who made Excitable Andy-One-Note’s conviction for smoking pot in public “go away”.)
• Finally, at a reader’s request, here is some information about the murdered (RIP):
  • Obituary of Maria Ragland Davis; faculty home page; more at Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Obituary of Adriel Johnson; faculty home page
  • WikiPedia page on Gopi K. Podila; faculty home page; more at Chronicle of Higher Education

UPDATE 1: Spitfire Murphy has their own roundup. See also here.

UPDATE 2: Wretchard on the suspect accidental death of her brother: “The Boston Globe has a link to Braintree Policy Chief Paul Frazier’s statement describing what he knew about the suspect. She had killed her brother in what was officially termed an accident, but apparently there were significant questions at the time about the resolution of the case. The relevant parts of the Chief Frazier’s statement are reproduced verbatim afther the “More”. The highlights are mine.”

“I have been in contact with the Huntsville Police Department to confirm that the suspect in their shooting had been involved in a shooting incident in Braintree 24 years ago. Their investigators will be back in touch with us within a couple of days.”

[Describing how nobody could locate the archived written report. Hmm.]

“Officer Ronald Solimini informed me that he wrote the report and said that I wouldn’t find it as it has been missing from the files for over 20 years[. He] recalled the incident as follows: He said he remembers that Ms. Bishop fired a round from a pump action shotgun into the wall of her bedroom. She had a fight with her brother and shot him, which caused his death. She fired a third round from the shotgun into the ceiling as she exited the home. She fled down the street with the shotgun in her hand. At one point she allegedly pointed the shotgun at a motor vehicle in an attempt to get the driver to stop. Officer Solimini found her behind a business on Washington Street. Officer Timothy Murphy was able to take control of the suspect at gunpoint and seized the shotgun. Ms. Bishop was subsequently handcuffed and transported to the police station under arrest.”“Officer Solimini informed me that before the booking process was completed Ms. Bishop was released from custody without being charged.”

“I (Chief Frazier) spoke with the retired Deputy Chief who was then a Lieutenant and was responsible for booking Ms. Bishop. He said he had started the process when he received a phone call he believes was from then Police Chief John Polio or possibly from a captain on Chief Polio’s behalf. He was instructed to stop the booking process. At some point Ms. Bishop was turned over to her mother and they left the building via a rear exit.”

Braintree Police Lieutenant Karen MacAleese was a high school classmate and confirmed from photographs that the suspect is the same Amy Bishop who lived in Braintree.

“I was not on duty at the time of the incident, but I recall how frustrated the members of the department were over the release of Ms. Bishop. It was a difficult time for the department as there had been three (3) shooting incidents within a short timeframe. The release of Ms. Bishop did not sit well with the police officers and I can assure you that this would not happen in this day and age.”