HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Amy Bishop has publicly apologized for the first time since she opened fire on a University of Alabama-Huntsville faculty meeting five years ago, killing three colleagues.

In 2010, the denial of Bishop’s tenure sparked the shootings. Bishop opened fire with a 9 mm pistol during a department meeting on Feb. 12, 2010. Professors killed in the incident were Adriel Johnson, Maria Ragland Davis and Gopi Podila, with three others being injured in the shootings.

The Harvard-trained neurobiologist and mother of four pleaded guilty to killing three colleagues and wounding three others, and is now serving a life sentence in prison.

However, recent efforts have been made by Bishop to appeal, claiming mental illness. In a new 50-page court filing for her appeal, Bishop included a handwritten note referring to the shootings as a “terrible crime” and stated her first apology.

“I am terribly sorry for the victims and their families and my family,” Bishop wrote.

Some of the surviving victims and families are less that receptive to the apology. One of the surviving victims, Joseph Leahy, rejected Bishop’s apology.

“Dr. Bishop has ceased to exist in my world. She just doesn’t exist anymore,” Leahy, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and is now blind in one eye, told WAFF.

“Do I think she’s truly sorry?” Leahy asked. “I think she truly wants to get out of prison. That’s what I think.”

The apology is part of a 50-page court document filed by Bishop, with this appeal challenging the effectiveness of Bishop Anderson’s appellate attorney, Cecilia Pope. Bishop is seeking relief for missing a filing deadline for her appeal, citing ineffective counsel by Pope.

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