READING — Police are still investigating what caused a Kutztown University professor to shoot and kill his wife, then himself, in a Pear Street residence Sunday.

According to Reading police, officers responded to 315 Pear St. for a report of a shooting around 3:44 p.m. where they found Chukwudubem Agha Okafor, 64, and his wife Cheryl Yvonne Okafor, 37, dead. Both bodies had gunshot wounds. A small caliber gun was found on the floor near the Okafors.

The Okafors lived on Antietam Drive in Exeter.

Chukwudubem was an associate professor of English at Kutztown University for 15 years. He specialized in the study of African diasporic literature and modern African poet

ry. He held a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1994, according to the university’s website. He was on sabbatical for the 2009-10 school year.

His wife was a Kutztown University alumna. She graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree in art education in 2002 and a master’s degree in art education in 2005.

Cheryl Okafor often displayed her artwork on the Kutztown Campus as part of student and alumni exhibits. In October 2007, her photography project “09/28/98,” which focused on domestic abuse, was displayed on the Brick Wall Gallery outside the Bear’s Den Coffee Shop, according to a copy of the “Potty Paper” put out by the university’s Women’s Center.

Cheryl Okafor told the Reading Eagle in 2006 that she had been a victim of domestic violence before she married her current husband, who she said had come from Nigeria, according to the Associated Press.

When asked if the couple had met at the university, spokesman Matt Santos said he did not know the details of how the couple met.

“The university community is deeply saddened by this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Okafors’ family, friends and associates,” said Santos

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