The shooter, Todd Shepard, 43, received the verdict on Thursday for the crime committed in Oct., 2008.

The case now moves into the penalty phase. Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch is seeking the death penalty.

Shepard testified that he shot University City Police Sgt. Michael King, who was a graduate of Washington University, on purpose as part of a plan to start an anti-government revolution.

According to the Post-Dispatch, Shepard said his actions were motivated in part by his history. In 2001, his girlfriend was shot and killed by a St. Louis County police officer.

Shepard recalled the moment of the shooting at his trial, the Post-Dispatch reported.

King had been sitting in his police cruiser on the corner of Leland Avenue and Delmar Boulevard.

Shepard’s testimony revealed that he had past drug arrests and is serving a 23-year federal sentence.

(COURTESY OF KENNY ANDERSON)

Johnson, an associate professor of biology from Tuskegee, Ala., was one of three professors killed in Friday’s shootings at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

UAH Professor of Biology Amy Bishop is charged with opening fire on her colleagues during a faculty meeting last Friday in a shooting spree that left three faculty members dead and three others injured.

The other two fatalities were Gopi Podila, the chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences, and Associate Professor of Biology Maria Ragland Davis.

Bishop is said to have had a violent past that included the 1986 shooting of her 18-year-old brother which was ruled as an accidental death.

The New York Times quoted anonymous faculty members who said that Bishop did not receive tenure and subsequently appealed the department’s rejection. The shooting occurred on the day the initial decision was upheld.

In the wake of Johnson’s death, his classmates have reconnected across the country to commemorate the friend they remember as a kind and quiet man with an unforgettable sense of humor.

Adriel Johnson (center) with Wash U friends Mike White ‘79 and Rommie Loudd ‘79. (Courtesy of Sheldon Ames)

Isbell and her husband live near Johnson in Huntsville. Her husband, Irvin Isbell, was Johnson’s roommate for two years at Washington University.

The WUSTL Black Alumni Network Web site—which is not affiliated with the University—and alumni Facebook pages have been flooded with an outpouring of condolences and memories of Johnson.

“It’s not often that we meet lifelong friends. In 1975, freshman year, I met Adriel,” Sheldon Ames, a close friend and 1979 Washington University graduate, wrote in response to classmate Jan Boyd’s Facebook status that honored Johnson.

One of his Wash. U. suitemates, Alvin Blackshear, wrote: “I am deeply saddened by this news. Adriel was a suitemate of mine during my freshman year and was always supportive and understanding of a not-so friendly nerd from NYC (me). His style and manner was something that years later I admired and was thankful for. I regret never having told him that he had a very positive impact on my life at Wash. U.”

During his years at Washington University, Johnson, a biology major, participated in several intramural sports and was an active member of the Black Students Association.

“Adriel enjoyed being a college student at Washington University,” said Donald Wilkerson, Johnson’s freshman and sophomore year roommate. “We enjoyed all aspects of the life. It was fun for us. We recognized that it was one of those experiences that you only have once and I think we took advantage of it.”

Wilkerson said that their lives at the University revolved around sporting events and Johnson was very enthusiastic about the Battling Bears.

“He was a hard worker. Very competitive,” Wilkerson said. “A sweet guy.”

After graduating from Washington University, Johnson went on to earn two master’s degrees, in population genetics and muscle protein biochemistry. He graduated with a Ph.D. in 1989 from North Carolina State University.

In his professional life, he was chairman of the biological sciences department at the UAH and focused his research on cell biology and nutritional physiology.

There he was active in encouraging minority students to further their education and go to graduate school.

Johnson was the director for the UAH chapter of the Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation.

Irvin Isbell Jr., the son of Johnson’s Wash. U. classmates Irvin and Janice Isbell, attended the UAH as a chemical engineering major, and said that Johnson served as a mentor to him and encouraged him to attend graduate school.

“He was a very encouraging professor,” Isbell Jr. said. “He would tear you down then build you back up as a stronger person. His presence will be greatly missed.”

Isbell was a part of the scholarship program that Johnson oversaw.

“He gave us all a chance by putting us on the scholarship program. We are going to miss him.”

Johnson is survived by his two sons and his wife, Jacqueline Johnson, a veterinary professor at Alabama A&M University.

James W. von Brunn graduated from the University in 1943 with a journalism degree.

James von Brunn, 88, a resident of the Maryland eastern shore, entered the University in 1938 and received his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1943.

During his time at the University, von Brunn was said to have been the president of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and a varsity football player.

Administrators said the University has little information on the alumnus, and alumni relations has no record of contact with him in recent decades.

Shortly before 1 p.m. on Wednesday, von Brunn walked into the Holocaust Museum while carrying a “long gun” and immediately “opened fire on Special Police Officers (SPO’s) guarding the front entrance,” according to a D.C. Metropolitan Police Department press release.

Von Brunn fatally wounded SPO Stephen Tyrone Johns, 39, before von Brunn was injured by return fire from two other SPOs nearby.

D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department personnel transferred Johns and von Brunn to George Washington Memorial Hospital, where Johns was pronounced dead and von Brunn was admitted in critical condition.

Von Brunn is the author of an anti-Semitic Web site, holywesternempire.org, and the book “Kill the Best Gentiles.”

Law enforcement officials secured the Holocaust Museum in downtown Washington D.C. Wednesday afternoon after gunman James W. von Brunn fired shots upon entering the building, fatally wounding a security entrance guard.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for a 1981 incident in which he entered the Federal Reserve Board headquarters with a sawed-off shotgun, claimed to have planted a bomb in the building and threatened to hold board members hostage. He served six and a half years of the sentence.

The University issued a statement after the shooting, expressing condolences and emphasizing its commitment to human rights.

“The University has a long-standing commitment to human rights and religious studies, including the Holocaust and Jewish studies,” the statement read. “The University is deeply saddened by this event and our hearts go out to the victims of this unwarranted attack.”

Museum officials said the museum will be closed Thursday and its flags lowered to half-staff in honor of Johns.

An important way to increase security off campus, particularly in the area between the campus and the Loop where a few of the more serious crimes have occurred, is to add more lighting and to increase the number of blue light phones along Melville. The thought behind the blue light phones, as communicated to students, is that students should always be able to see a blue light phone from wherever they are, but this is not the case. Though there are several phones along this street, there is considerable distance between the phones and it is easy to attack someone in an area where a blue light phone is not easily accessible. More blue light phones will signal a greater presence of the University and its police department, which should act to deter some crime.

The University should increase lighting along the path between the campus and Greenway as well as on Melville between Greenway and the Loop in order to help students be more aware of their surroundings. This would make it more difficult to commit a crime without witnesses present. The University would need to work with the University City Police Department because the University does not own the area, but such a partnership will only improve student safety and build ties with the surrounding community.

Though the University cannot secure the full area around campus where students choose to live, it should seriously consider whether it can work with all of the surrounding police departments to create some type of visible presence in all of the places where many students live. The Washington University Police Department should also quickly make students aware of any knowledge it has regarding crimes occurring in areas that are heavily populated with students. Washington University Police Department could develop an opt-in list for which students can sign up to hear about crime reports. The list could be optional to avoid scaring students unnecessarily while providing concerned students with a reliable source of information that will subdue rumors.

However, the University’s ability to prevent crime is limited. Students must understand that they live in areas that can be dangerous, and they should always use common sense. This means taking measures like not walking alone at night in the middle of less-safe areas, making use of Wash. U. escort services like Bear Patrol, locking and closing doors and so on. Though the University campus often seems impenetrable, it’s important to remember that it is located in an environment where crime is a reality. The University should do absolutely everything it can to ensure safety, which means responding to the increased crime with a few improvements. The fullest University response combined with student vigilance cannot effectively deter crime altogether, but we can work together to minimize crime as much as physically possible.

The Missouri Highway Patrol in the Kansas City area has made an arrest of a suspect in the murder of Sergeant Michael King of the University City Police Department.

Captain Tim Hull, Director of Public Information for the Missouri State Highway Patrol said that the police have the correct vehicle stopped and have verified the identity of the person taken into custody, but have not yet released the suspect’s name to the public.

The suspect is assumed to be 41-year old Todd Shepard, the only person whom the police have named as a suspect.

Sergeant King, a Washington University alumnus, was shot in the head while on duty at about 10:20 p.m on Friday at the intersection of Leland Ave. and Delmar Blvd. He was a Washington University alumnus.