Virginia Tech victim had worked at UNC-CH

Christopher James Bishop -- who once worked at UNC-Chapel Hill -- was leading a class in introductory German at Virginia Tech when the gunman aimed at his head and fired, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Bishop, 35, worked at UNC-CH from 2000 to 2005 in the Office of Arts & Sciences Information Services (known as OASIS), according to his Web site. The site has not been updated since Bishop left Carolina.

The LA Times quoted a colleague as saying Bishop, who went by Jamie, had been at Virginia Tech for two years and was very popular with students.

At UNC, Bishop acted as developer and manager of the PALs project, which helps language instructors integrate technology into their teaching. Bishop wrote on his Web site that the job involved supporting faculty, staff and students in Asian studies, Germanic & Slavic languages, linguistics, comparative literature and romance languages.

He also taught an intermediate German course as a visiting lecturer at UNC in the spring semester of 2004, according to his Web site.

Clayton Koelb, chairman of the UNC Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, remembered Bishop's cheerful nature.

"Having Jamie as a technician, you almost looked forward to having computer problems," Koelb said. "He had such enthusiasm. When there was a problem, he would always be positive and happy and certain he would be able to take care of it, and he did. Usually he would not only take care of the problem you called about, but he found some other problem you didn't know you had and fixed that one, too."

This morning, Koelb organized a gathering of Bishop's friends and former colleagues. About 40 people showed up.

"The universal sense was that he was really just fun to work with," Koelb said.

Bishop's wife, Stefanie Hofer, spoke by phone to a friend in Chapel Hill on Monday before she learned that Bishop had been shot, Koelb said. Hofer teaches in the German program at Virginia Tech.

"She hadn't heard from Jamie, but they were under lockdown. She didn't think there was anything particular to worry about," Koelb said.

But Bishop's friends at UNC later became very fearful when they heard a TV interview with a student who said his German instructor had been shot.

"We were pretty sure his was the only German class in that building," Koelb said, referring to the building where most of the fatalities occurred.

On his Web site, Bishop described himself as "mild-mannered, bespectacled."

He wrote: "After five, he battles the drudgery and ennui of the 40-hour work week, heroically pursuing creativity. (Victory or no, the glasses always stay on.)" He added that he enjoyed digital art, and he posted samples of his work.

Bishop and Hofer moved to Chapel Hill so she could pursue her doctorate in German literature there, said Todd Stabley, a former colleague of Bishop's at UNC.

Bishop had hoped to pursue a master's in fine arts, Stabley said. He loved art and integrating it with technology.

"This was not part of the plan," Stabley said of the shooting.

Bishop's friends told the Los Angeles Times that they were struggling to comprehend the violent death of the instructor who was known for his gentle manner and generosity toward students.

"I don't think he was the type of person who had an enemy," said Troy Paddock, a close friend. "He was a very friendly person. He did weekly gatherings for students out of class to practice German where they could talk about anything. He was a nice and helpful person."

Bishop was an avid hiker and movie fan, a Georgia native who paid close attention to the wins and losses of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.

Bishop and Hofer were the only tenure-track professors in the German program, Richard Shryock, chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, told the LA Times.

Shryock said he was with Hofer on Monday afternoon at an inn on campus when authorities told her that her husband was dead.

"She was as composed as I think a person could possibly be," said Shryock, who described his reaction as "just shock. Utter shock. Disbelief. Incomprehension."

Bishop received his bachelor's and master's degrees in German at the University of Georgia, according to his Web site. He wrote that he lived in Germany from 1993 to 2000 where he spent most of his time "learning the language, teaching English, drinking large quantities of wheat beer, and wooing a certain Fraeulein" -- Hofer.

Bishop was a Fulbright scholar at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany, and lived in Heidelberg from 1995 and 1996.

Students who were in Bishop's classroom described a horrific scene.

Trey Perkins, 20, told the Washington Post that the gunman barged into the room about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half, getting off about 30 shots.

The gunman first shot Bishop in the head, then fired on the students with a "very serious but very calm look on his face," Perkins said.