TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Court documents revealed more details about the Wednesday shooting that killed UArizona professor Thomas Meixner.
According to the interim complaint filed in Pima County Superior Court, accused shooter Murad Dervish had been expelled from UArizona in February 2022 and was banned from campus after several reports of threats to staffers at the campus's Harshbarger building.
At that time, UArizona sent out an email to staffers telling them to call police if Dervish entered the building.
When he came to the building, several people identified him and one called 911.
According to the documents, Dervish shot and killed Meixner with approximately four 9mm bullets at about 2 p.m. A second person was injured by bullet fragments.
Dervish then left the building and drove away. Three hours after the shooting, a law enforcement officer stopped his car on Arizona Highway 85 headed toward Mexico, 30 miles south of Gila Bend.
Dervish ignored sirens signaling him to pull over. An officer stopped the car with a PIT maneuver meant to force the car to spin out and stop.
A search of his car revealed 11 shell casings and a loaded 9mm handgun.
After he was read his Miranda Rights but before he was questioned, Dervish said "I hope he's OK. Probably wishful thinking" and "I just felt so disrespected by that whole department." He also said "a woman wouldn't have done this" and "I was going to kill myself, shoot myself, but I couldn't."
An unrelated order of protection barred Dervish from possessing a gun.
Dervish, 46, faces a first-degree murder charge. He was booked into Pima County Jail and is being held without bond. As of Friday morning, he was listed as being held in the jail's infirmary.
The suspect’s father, Dolgun Dervish, says he’s overcome with grief after hearing what his son is accused of doing.
“My initial reaction was I’m sorry that he killed someone,” he said.
Dolgun admits his son has had a troubled past, telling our sister station in San Diego, he hasn’t talked to his son in a long time.
Though he says this isn’t the first time his son has been outwardly violent.
“He hurt me,” said Dolgun.
He says his son assaulted him at his restaurant in South Carolina a couple of years ago.
“He smashed the equipment I had in my restaurant with a crowbar and then he threw a plate at me and hit on my back,” he added.
Afterward, Dolgun’s son moved to San Diego.
A restraining order filed against Dervish, in 2020, states he harassed and stalked a woman while he was a teacher's assistant at San Diego State University.
His father says he also tried to hurt his mother.
“He tried to kill his mother also.”
We also found another order of protection unrelated to UArizona that barred Murad Dervish from having a gun.
“I was hoping that he will go to prison for a long time for some other reason than killing somebody,” said Dolgun.
Students tell ABC15 that, even days following the shooting, a memorial continues to grow at the University of Arizona campus, honoring Professor Meixner’s life.
ABC15 reached out to the University of Arizona Police Department and UArizona asking whether any safety protocols were put in place, should Dervish walk on campus.
UAPD said the following:
“Regarding notifying staff about a student, ex-student, or staff member UAPD does not intervene with that. UAPD would leave it up to the staff to notify the individuals that need to be notified.
At the time of the event, I do not know the whereabouts of UAPD officers. UAPD did not have an officer assigned specifically to that building. However, Officer's response time was under three minutes.”
ABC15 is waiting to hear back from UArizona.
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