American Scene

ALABAMA

Professor accused of 3 killings fired

HUNTSVILLE — The University of Alabama in Huntsville has fired the professor accused of shooting six co-workers, killing three.

University spokesman Ray Garner confirmed Thursday that biology professor Amy Bishop received a termination letter Feb. 26 from Jack Fix, dean of the College of Sciences. It didn’t give a reason for her dismissal.

The firing was effective Feb. 12, the day three professors were killed and two professors and a staff member wounded during a faculty meeting.

Mrs. Bishop is jailed awaiting a hearing on capital murder and attempted murder charges.

Also Thursday, a Massachusetts district attorney said a judge has scheduled an inquest April 13 through 16 into the 1986 shooting death of Mrs. Bishop’s brother. It originally was ruled an accident, but new information has emerged since the Alabama shooting.

LOUISIANA

Ex-officer pleads in shooting cover-up

NEW ORLEANS — A second former New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to covering up the deadly shooting of unarmed residents after Hurricane Katrina, and a judge called the plot a “despicable” scheme that immeasurably compounded the storm’s damage.

Jeffrey Lehrmann, who left the police department in 2006 and is a special agent at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Phoenix, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, which means he had knowledge of a crime and didn’t report it.

Another former officer pleaded guilty last month to a conspiracy charge.

MASSACHUSETTS

No-contest plea in boy’s Uzi death

SPRINGFIELD — A Massachusetts sporting club is donating $10,000 to children’s charities as part of a deal settling criminal charges in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi during a gun fair.

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