tonight on "nightline," campus spree. three faculty members are dead, three others are injured after a biology professor reportedly opens fire on her colleagues. so, what drove her to snap? we'll have the latest. justice for somer. as authorities arrest a person of interest in the abduction and murder of 7-year-old somer thompson, we got an exclusive interview with her mother. plus, dead or alive? a wanted man once known for extreme views on god, government and guns has holed up on his texas compound for a decade. we go inside america's longest-running standoff. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, and terry moran in washington, this is "nightline," february 12th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. and we're going to begin tonight with the fatal campus shooting in alabama. but this time, the violent spree did not involve a student targeting classmates. no, this time, the gunman was a member of the faculty, one that may have faced a professional setback, and this time, the suspect is a woman. gun fire e ruments at the university of alabama huntsville, inside a biology faculty meeting on the third floor of an academic building. >> sometime shortly before 4:00 p.m., a call was made from the center to the police department. university police responded, secured the building and they found the victims. >> reporter: three professors died at the scene. three others, two professors and a staffer were wounded an transported to the trauma center at huntsville hospital. melissa davis, step-daughter of one of the victims, says her father was trying to contact her step-mother. >> he can't get ahold of her and might have saw her leaving on the stretcher out of the building. we're trying to see where she is. >> are you okay? what are you feeling? >> i'm sorry. just worried. >> reporter: taken into custody at the scene was a university employee, reportedly amy pitch shop, a harvard-trained ph.d. according to the abc news affiliate in huntsville, she may have learned earlier today that her bid for tenure had been denied. a second person of interest was taken in for questioning. of course, campus shootings have become all too familiar. the scenes of higher learning becoming the scenes of mad violence. >> this is stuff going on in schools, you know, instead of going out on the streets, it's just -- doesn't make any sense. >> it doesn't make any sense. there will be more on this shooting tomorrow on "good morning america." but now, we're going to turn to another investigation. a child abduction and murder in florida, that began last fall when a 7-year-old girl disappeared from her walk home from school. authorities yesterday arrested a man they are calling a person of interest in the case. it may be a major breakthrough for a mother, seeking justice. our chief law and justice correspondent chris cuomo sat down with her earlier this week. >> reporter: somer thompson, the angelic 7-year-old who was just coming into her own. >> she, you know, she had problems like, actually with her speech, you know, yiddle instead of little. >> reporter: you had a nickname for her. grace. >> she was so klutzy. >> reporter: police identified this man, jared harrell, as a person of interest in the abduction and murder. >> he was arrested and being held on a $1 million bond on those charges. >> reporter: last october, while somer was walking home from school with her twin brother and sister, she ran ahead, and disappeared. >> i love you and i just want you to come home. >> reporter: her mother says that despite the massive search, she knew that same day, as night fell, she would never see her baby again. that night, what are you telling yourself? >> i'm never going to see her again. >> reporter: you were that confident that soon? >> i -- i can't explain it, but i just knew that she was gone. >> reporter: two days after she disappeared, all hope faded with word that somer's lifeless body was found buried among tons of garbage in a landfill, some 50 miles away in georgia. she barely remembers the call from police. >> all i remember is losing it, i mean, literally losing it. screaming and later on neighbors telling me they could hear me, the scream across the street, and then they knew. >> reporter: and ever since that day, she's been haunted by a need to know what happened. the idea of catching the bad guy, the monster, who is still out there, what happens when that happens? >> i feel like it will give me some more closure because i still blame myself. i'm going to have a picture of someone else to blame, rather than constantly, because it's not my fault, you know, i -- i did what i had to do, so i just -- i want to see this person's face. i can't wait to meet him face to face. >> reporter: and you want to speak to the person? >> absolutely. >> reporter: and ask what? >> why. give me whatever pathetic excuse you have, but just tell me, give me anything. give me something. >> reporter: could jarred harrell be the man responsible? in his mug shot, he looks unfazed and is described as anti-social and withdrawn. he lived on the street near where somer was last seen. reportly a neighbor says somer had occasionally stopped to pet a little white dog near that home. but the biggest clue could be the reason for his arrest. his former room maments turned over to authorities what they said was a computer harrell had left behind when they allegedly found child pornography on it. the arrest warrant charged 29 counts of possession of extreme child pornography, specifically, little girls about somer's age, in suggestive poses wearing little or nothing. harrell is being held on $1 million bail, but it was his designation of person of interest in somer's case that made news. >> when you have somebody charged with a serious offense like child pornography, and then you mention publicly that they are a person of interest, that sometimes can either motivate suspects or individuals to then decide to talk about a crime, or they may end up talking to someone else. >> reporter: authorities were given the computer last august, raising questions about whether harrell should have already been in custody by the time somer disappeared. but police put out a statement today insisting that any suggestion the investigation languished is unfair and inaccurate. >> the difficulty with fugitive cases is that it kind of boys down to manpower to a large extent. and particularly the kind of case. if the sheriff's deputies looked for him and followed all the logical leads that they had and didn't find anything, then cases tend to sort of go, you know, in a holding pattern. they are still there, they are still active, but there is no one day-to-day looking for the person. >> reporter: one thing's for sure. police have had harrell on their radar for some time, and have recently stepped up efforts. thursd thursday, harrell's home was searched. of particular interest, this shed. many questions remain, and no one wants more answers than somer's mother. you want to know all of it. >> i do. >> reporter: no matter the detail? >> the picture of what i have in my mind can't be any worse than what actually happened. >> reporter: do you care what happens to whoever did this? >> i want them to die. i want them to get the death penalty. >> reporter: i'm chris cuomo for "nightline" in new york. >> the suspect in this case, jared harrell remains in a mississippi jail tonight. he's refusing to sign an extradition waiver that would return him to florida. our thanks to chris cuomo. when we come back, it a ten-year stand off between outlaw and law enforcement. see why texas police are willing to play this long waiting game. 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tom? hey! it's office party! the freedom to name your price. only from progressive. call or click today. we turn now to the heart of texas, and a standoff that began a decade ago, and while it's remained relatively peaceful, the outlaw, and issues at stake are potentially explosive. politics, religion, and the right to bear arms all play a part, as do the ghosts of a fiery siege that everyone remembers. we went in search of answers. about 75 miles southeast of dallas, the texas prayer reaps roll on forever, it seems. and it is out here, on a fenced-in, 47 acres of land on the banks of the trinity river that america's longest running law enforcement standoff is taking place. >> you come out after us, bring extra body bags. those that live by the sword will die by the sword. >> reporter: that's john joe gray. the man at the center of the standoff from an interview ten years ago, my abc colleague john quinones did for "20/20." it's the last time gray appeared on camera. ten years ago. bill clinton was still president. elian gonzalez was still in miami. and "who wants to be a millionaire" with regis philbin was the top tv show. ten years ago. that's the last time keith tarkington saw his children. you miss them? >> yeah. ten years, that's ten christmas, that's easters, birthdays, all of this i haven't been with my babies. >> reporter: keith last saw his son, samuel james and joe douglass the day they were taken by their mother lisa to that property along the trinity riverer to the barricaded home of joe gray, keith's former father-in-law. that was at the start of the standoff, when joe grape was promising to fight to the delt if authorities came for him. >> i will die for it because how else could you live? you know, freedom, what is freedom? you know, they can take my land, you know, okay. they can take my life. but they can't take my freedom. >> reporter: gray is wanted by texas authorities for assaulting a police officer. he allegedly bit a cop during an altercation at a traffic stop, after a state trooper asked him about his pistol. but he was well-known to law enforcement by then. >> i put out literature about the new world order. i done that for years down here. and i think it upset a few people. they didn't like it. >> reporter: joe gray is a deeply devout christian that holds some extreme views of government. >> i think it's said, every 200 years, you have to chop his head off. you have to bring tyranny back down. put it back in its place. >> reporter: and thorpts believe he might be capable of acting on those views. dough lowe h doug lowe has been the district attorney since this all began. >> it led me to believe he posed a threat to the safety of people there. he was capable of building a bomb, plans to make a bomb, to blow up a bridge in dallas. >> reporter: you're talking about a bomb, a bridge in dallas. you're talking terrorism. >> well -- you might think that. that somebody that has those, that kind of thing would be a terrorist, but i don't know for sure. >> reporter: remember this was before 9/11, and this was texas. and there was a terrible spector in the become of everyone's mind. waco. the stand off at the branch davidian that ended in the fiery death of at least 76 people, including at least 20 children. and that is the reason why, after ten years, even though keith tarkington has a court order granting him custody of his sons, the authorities will not move. so although you are lawfully entitled to have custody of your boys, no law enforcement has helped you. >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> i don't know. >> reporter: is it because law enforcement is frightened of john joe gray and doesn't want to go in there? >> well, that's what they say. they say, well, this, we don't want another waco. i said, i don't, either, but i want my kids back. >> you look at things like waco, you look at things like that, and i'm not sure that it is worth going out there and taking that chance. >> reporter: ray nutt is the sheriff in the country where gray lives. he's the fourth sheriff since the standoff began ten years ago and he's in no hurry. >> i'm not willing to risk my deputies' lives, and i really don't want to end up having to kill a bunch of them folks out there. >> reporter: and you think that -- >> i they's entirely a possibility. >> reporter: but the sheriff says that in a sense, justice is being done. >> he's still in his own prison. they haven't won. we just have not been able to arrest him yet. >> reporter: they're still out there, gray and his family. so, we decided to see for ourselves how dangerous joe gray really is. so we're just 100 yards or so from the gate of john joe gray's compound. they don't much like outsiders here. we've not told them we're coming, there's no way of gifting ahold of them. no electricity, no phones. they came out. they were armed. they talked. but not on camera. so they stayed on the inside, we stayed on the outside. they live here behind these fences, according to gold's law, they say, not man's. and they say they are free. free, joe gray told us. he said he and his family, about a dozen of them. his wife, their sons and their families live women, growing and raising their own food and livestock. praying. he and his sons told us they will defend this place with their lives if it comes to that. those children now 14 and 12 years old, are long gone, most people around here believe. the center for missing and exploited children has created these age progression images, seeking to show what the boys might look like today. even though it's been ten years, and no action, district attorney doug lowe is convinced he'll eventually get his man. what do you say to the argument that the moral of this story is that if you break the law, and you scare law enforcement enough, you can get away with it? >> i don't think we're scared. i think that there's an obligation to be smart in this business and to use your bullets and fire when it makes a difference. >> reporter: there's only one thing that would make a difference to keith tarkington. >> i ain't never going to give up looking for them. some day i'll find them. >> reporter: because it's possible they'll be watching tv somewhere and see you. >> i'll keep looking for them. i just hope whoever's -- has them takes good care of them. i just hope they know i love them and i'm not giving up. >> and there is no sign of an end to this standoff. when we come back, we will turn the page. it's a plate list that's perfect for valentine's day. [ lighting a match ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've wanted to quit smoking so many times, but those days came and went and the cigarettes remained. ♪ today's a new day. talk to your doctor about prescription treatment options and support. and this time, make it your time. about prescription treatment options and support. shakes off dry winter skin with 2 separate ribbons. the white ribbon that cleanses leaving skin satiny smooth. goodbye dry winter skin. but only vegetables can give you vegetable nutrition. one of these will get ou more than half way to your five daily servings. v8. what's your number? >> annou >> announcer: "nightline" continues from washington with terry moran. >> valentine's day is drawing near, and for millions, that means sharing a meal with your special someone. the old saying, after all, is there's no better way to someone's heart than through their stomach. and so we headed into the kich within a ladies man, todd english as our valentine's day plate list. >> when i'm cooking and thinking about the heat of the moment what's happening in those moments what is going to give that beautiful sensual moment, and that's something that i think is what makes food so sexy, and you can't forget that. going to start with just a touch of butter and some minced shallots. a little bit of white wine. i've got a little bit of cream. we add some shucked oisers. some diced pancetta. these are eggs, slow cooked in the shell. everything in this meal is going to be plated on one plate because you want to share the whole meal. we're going to take the eggs. the oyster stew. some beautiful caviar. one day that we love to indulge. i've taken parsnips and just lightly fried them with some nice chooifs, as well. this is a very, very valentine day experience. i'm going in there and trying that. it's interesting the whole celebrity chef thing. and i think a lot of celebrity chefs still haven't put their finger on what it is exactly and they say, well, i want to be more chef than celebrity but it's certainly part of promoting what you do, and we're artists, we're craftsmen, craftspeople. we try to stay true to our trade, and stay true to what we do and we have to do it every day. say that we're only as good as our last meal and it's very true. >> first of all what we have here, a venison rack. we sere in the flay vorps this is the macaroni and cheese. olive oil. shallots. some nice toasted chestnuts in there. macaroni. toss that around. you can add a little bit more scre creaminess to that. the venison, turn that around. i've got some fresh thyme, fresh rosemary. now, put this in the oven for 25, 30 minutes. so, that looks just about ready. it's beautiful. i'm putting grated scheez. a little bit of fontina in there. chopped parsely and chooifs. let the macaroni gratin a little bit. i like the crunch. and take some kran per rips that i lightly poached. i have a orange zest and shallots. just heat that up. a little bit of fresh rosemary. i like to plate everything for two, like we plated the eggs for two. i'm going to plate this for two here now. gorgeous, simple, delicious. certainly something to get all the juices flowing on valentine's day. i will always, always profess that when you cook from your heart, and not your head, that's when you show the love on the plate. and a complicated but uncomp uncomplicated way. it's almost as complicated as love itself. happy volumen tine's day. >> showing the love on the plate there. a valentine for the stomach. will you be mine? and we'll be right back. but first, jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next. jimmy? >> jimmy: thanks, terry. tonight, mark wahlberg, brooklyn decker, music from dashboard confessional, and we send the octo-mom on a date.