Police say UGA shooting victim may have tried to calm situation

A former Tennessee resident killed with two others in a fatal shooting involving a missing University of Georgia professor may have tried to intervene before the shooting began.

Sixty-three-year-old Ben Teague, a professional translator who grew up in Oak Ridge, was killed Saturday during a gathering with other members of a local theater group in Athens, Ga. Police suspect marketing professor George Zinkhan shot his wife, Marie Bruce, Tom Tanner and Teague.

While the motive isn't known, Athens-Clarke County Police Capt. Clarence Holeman tells The Oak Ridger newspaper that Zinkhan argued with his wife before the shooting and at some point Teague "tried to calm the situation."

Holeman says Teague, a 1963 Oak Ridge High graduate, was shot three times in the arm and fatally in the chest.

A memorial service for Teague is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday in the chapel on North Campus at the University of Georgia, followed by a public reception on Herty Field.

Funeral arrangements have also been set for the two other victims.

A service for 47-year-old Marie Bruce is planned for 11 a.m. Thursday at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, followed by burial in Westover Memorial Park.

And Bernstein Funeral Home of Athens is handling arrangements for 40-year-old Tom Tanner and said the family has asked that details be kept private.

Meanwhile, the search continued this morning for the man wanted in the three deaths.

But a Dutch college said Tuesday it was the one that had previously made arrangements for him to leave the country this coming weekend.

Zinkhan didn't set the schedule for his trip to Amsterdam or even buy the ticket for this Saturday's flight out of Atlanta.

Harmen Verbruggen, dean of Vrije Universiteit (Free University) in Amsterdam - where Zinkhan has taught part-time for two years - invited Zinkhan to help the university start up a marketing master's program, Verbruggen said Tuesday.

The dean's secretary made travel arrangements with Delta Air Lines three or four days before the triple homicide, he said.

"He was going to discuss the courses he could give" as part of the new program, Verbruggen said Tuesday. "He responded to our invitation."

Meanwhile, local and federal authorities are tracking down leads from across the nation and continue to investigate whether the fugitive is here, with family or friends states away, or even out of the United States.

Local police think Zinkhan left the Athens area Saturday afternoon, immediately after he shot and killed three people outside of Athens Community Theater on Grady Avenue where the Town & Gown Players theater troupe was holding a reunion picnic.

The daylight shooting sparked a national hunt for Zinkhan, who has extended family in several states, according to the FBI.

He's also an avid hiker, according to police, and investigators haven't ruled out that Zinkhan might try to hide in the woods.

Authorities in the Netherlands also are on the lookout for the 57-year-old instructor.

The FBI searched Zinkhan's home and UGA office Saturday and found an empty passport wallet, noting his departure for the Netherlands was scheduled for the following Saturday.

Those travel plans alarmed federal officials enough to charge him with fleeing.

"He may change the (ticket's) date and attempt to leave early," FBI Special Agent Gregory McLendon warned in an application for a federal arrest warrant that was issued Sunday.

The warrant would allow Interpol to detain Zinkhan if authorities find him overseas, according to police.

With speculation flying, officials don't even know if Zinkhan still is alive, or has gone into hiding.

He hasn't used his credit and ATM cards or cell phone, according to police.

No one using Zinkhan's name or passport had left the country from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International or any other U.S. airport, said Greg Jones, special agent in charge of the FBI's Atlanta Division.

Zinkhan, who speaks fluent Dutch, felt comfortable in the Netherlands.

He leases a home in downtown Amsterdam, about a 15-minute commute from Free University, according to Verbruggen.

Professors at the university knew Zinkhan from his reputation, and from attending international marketing conferences with him, he said.

"He stayed with us for a sabbatical during the summer of 2006, and the cooperation between him and members of the faculty was so inspiring and successful we invited him to become a part-time full professor, effective April 1, 2007," Verbruggen said.

Zinkhan traveled to Amsterdam twice a year, staying for a month or longer each time, the dean said.