Athens gunman commits suicide

By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The suspected killer that Athens and UGA police were searching for has killed himself in Oglethorpe County, police say.

The search for suspect Michael Wise began Thursday afternoon after the body of 20-year-old Kendra Borders was found in a Ford Explorer in the parking lot of a south Athens shopping center.

UGA sent a substantial number of police officers to the south end of campus, near the UGA golf course, and issued a campus-wide alert. Wise had been seen heading toward the golf course and the campus' swine farm on Milledge Avenue, UGA police chief Jimmy Williamson said.

UGA and Athens-Clarke County police set up a perimeter to search for Wise.

They called off the search after learning Wise, 25, had killed himself in Oglethorpe County. Wise shot himself when he was pulled over by police around 3:30 p.m., according to the Athens Banner-Herald.

Borders' body was found in the parking lot of the Shoppes of South Athens on South Milledge Avenue. There were reports that Wise had run into the wooded area behind the UGA golf course.

UGA sent an alert at 2:52 p.m. to inform students, faculty and staff about the search and asked them to "please stay away from this area."

The area, which is near Whitehall and Riverbend roads, is remote from the main part of campus where most students take classes, UGA spokesman Tom Jackson said.

Jackson said some faculty members canceled classes held in the nearby agricultural laboratory facilities. University officials did not cancel classes, and the university remained open, he said.

About an hour later the college sent another alert saying the campus was considered safe.

UGA started its alert system after the 2007 Virginia Tech killings. The emergency notification program sends texts, e-mails and phone calls when there are dangerous situations, such as shootings or inclement weather. All of the colleges’ nearly 34,800 students can sign up to get the alerts.

Reports indicated Wise and Borders were a couple. Athens-Clarke Police spokeswoman Savannah Hembree said she had no information on the relationship between the victim and suspect.

-- Staff writers Rhonda Cook, Megan Matteucci, Laura Diamond and Christian Boone contributed to this report.