Amy Bishop was born on April 24, 1965. She grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts, where she attended Braintree High School. After high school, she went to Northeastern University in Boston for her undergraduate studies. Her father, Samuel Bishop, was a professor in the art department at the same university.

Bishop later earned her Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University. Her dissertation was titled "The Role of Methoxatin (PQQ) in the Respiratory Burst of Phagocytes," and she had a keen interest in research related to the nervous system. Some of her research focused on how the central nervous system responds to nitric oxide and the development of neural circuits.

While at Harvard, an anonymous source mentioned that her work did not meet quality standards and called it a "local scandal." Despite this, she earned her doctoral degree in 1993.

In 2003, she joined the faculty at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, teaching in the Department of Biological Sciences. Before working at Alabama, she was an instructor at Harvard Medical School. She was married to Jimmy "James" Anderson, and they had four children. Bishop was also a second cousin to novelist John Irving.

On February 12, 2010, Amy Bishop fatally shot three colleagues and injured three others at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The shooting occurred during a faculty meeting attended by about 12 people. Bishop was teaching an anatomy and neurosciences class earlier that day and was described by students as behaving normally.

During the meeting, Bishop sat quietly for about 30 to 40 minutes. Suddenly, she pulled out a Ruger P95 9mm handgun and began firing. Witnesses reported that she shot the closest individuals first and targeted them purposefully, describing the shooting as "execution style." Some attendees dropped to the floor to avoid being shot, while a biochemistry professor attempted to intervene. After shooting several rounds, the gun either jammed or ran out of ammunition when aimed at another professor, which allowed others to push her out of the room and block the door.

After the shooting, Bishop was arrested outside the building. The police found the murder weapon in a bathroom. Bishop did not possess a permit for the handgun, and shortly after her arrest, she insisted that the events had not occurred and questioned the deaths of her colleagues.

In the aftermath, three faculty members were killed, and three others suffered injuries. A memorial service for the victims was held, drawing thousands in attendance. Bishop faced charges for her actions, including capital murder and attempted murder. Her previous incidents, including the shooting of her brother in 1986, came under scrutiny after the Alabama shooting. Following legal proceedings, Bishop pleaded guilty on September 11, 2012, following a request from victims’ families to avoid the death penalty. Under Alabama law, a condensed version of the evidence was presented to a jury on September 24, 2012, and she was sentenced the same day to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.