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.
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Phil Villarreal is the senior real-time editor for KGUN 9. He is also a digital producer and host of "Phil on Film" seen weekly on Good Morning Tucson, Phil moved to KGUN after 17 years with the Arizona Daily Star. He is married and has four children. Share your story ideas and important issues with Phil by emailing phil.villarreal@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
