Police are working on several leads in the case of the Aug. 26 shooting death of Associate Professor of Anthropology Pierre Robert Colas, according to Sergeant Robert Weaver of the Metropolitan East Precinct.

“We are starting to figure out the victims and their home lives and seeing if the incident is related to others in the neighborhood,” said Weaver. “We are also waiting for evidence to come back.”

According to WSMV.com, police are questioning three people in connection with Colas' death.

Colas was found dead by police who responded to a report of shots fired at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday evening. Colas’ sister, who was visiting from Switzerland, was found injured and is now in critical condition at the Vanderbilt Medical Center.

Colas’ father was flying in from Mexico City the next night; his brother was scheduled to arrive from Germany sometime that week.

Colas joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2006 as an associate professor of anthropology and a scholar of Classic Mayan culture. Additionally, he specialized in the ethnography of the Yucatec Maya of Belize and cave archeology projects. He was fluent in six languages and researched hieroglyphic characters as a means of understanding the political and religious structure of Mayan society. Colas earned his Ph.D. at the University of Bonn and the University of Cologne in Germany.

“He was in every way a superb scholar and a delightful person,” said Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Richard McCarty. “He was remarkably productive given that he was only 32 years old. I (know) how profound a loss this would be for his many friends, colleagues and students.”

The Metropolitan Police are asking anyone with information to contact East Precinct Investigations at 615-862-7525 or Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME.