FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A University of Arkansas English professor and a graduate student who was recently dropped from a doctoral program were shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide.
English professor John Locke, 67, and James Easton Kelly, 36, were found dead Monday in Locke's office. People nearby said they heard the men arguing before three shots were fired.
University police Capt. Brad Bruns said a .38-caliber revolver belonging to Kelly was found between the men, but it was unclear who shot whom.
"We don't want to say it was one way and it turn out to be a different way. With the location of the gun and the two bodies, it was not obvious at the scene," said university police Lt. Gary Crain.
Bruns said four empty shell casings were found in the gun, which Kelly bought at a pawn shop five years ago.
Kelly was dismissed from the doctoral program Aug. 21 because he habitually enrolled in and then dropped classes. The university said a committee of six professors voted to drop Kelly. Locke was on the committee but abstained from the vote.
The committee allowed Kelly to continue his studies as a non-degree student.
Kelly had scheduled a meeting with Locke, his adviser, who was reluctant to meet the student in private.
"He said he was going to have it in the department office, not his own office," said Brian Wilkie, a fellow professor. "I asked him if he (Kelly) seemed violent, and he said 'You never know."'
Bruns said police had a brief conversation with one of the men before the final shot was fired. The man told them he was injured and that he did not want them to enter the office, Bruns said.
But he said a police negotiator never got a chance to talk with anyone in the second-floor office.