TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Anger and controversy are still flowing on the University of Arizona campus, more than six months after a gunman shot and killed a professor on campus. There are calls to remove the University President, and the Faculty Senate has passed a vote of no confidence in the President and most of UA’s senior leaders.
Emotions are still raw not just at the building at the UA campus where Professor Thomas Meixner was shot and killed but across the community as a whole. A report that outlines plenty of missed chances to protect the campus is part of a vote of no confidence against university leaders and a call for change at the top.
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A gunman went into the UA Atmospheric Sciences Building, and shot and killed department head Thomas Meixner. A former graduate student named Murad Dervish is charged as the killer.
The University says he had been barred from campus for menacing behavior. But investigators say on the day Meixner died Dervish walked in unimpeded.
The University commissioned a report by the Pax Group that found poor communication and coordination kept the University from an effective response to repeated indications Dervish was a serious threat—and that there were several opportunities to contact Dervish and prevent the shooting.
“The incompetence that the report demonstrated was outrageous.”
VIDEO TIMELINE: Murder at the University of Arizona
Marjie Sullivan thought her daughter was safe at UA until she heard of the killing. Then she saw the report.
“It made it clear that there's industry standards in place. You're running huge organizations like this and you're in charge of people's safety. There's whole programs that can analyze emails and they can have teams that are trained in identifying threats.”
She thinks University President Doctor Robert Robbins should go.
Justin Headley is a graduate student who worked with Doctor Meixner and heard the shots that killed him.
He can’t get over a lost opportunity described in the report where a week before the shooting Dervish, who was barred from campus, and recommended for charges, walked into the UA Police station, asked to check for anything that might prompt police to pull over his car, then walked right out again.
“He should have certainly been on their radar. So I'd really like to know, on this September 27 incident, what actually went down. Who did he talk to? What did they say? Did they inadvertently help him plan his murder just a few days later?”
Headley expects University Police, more than Doctor Robbins, to know about Dervish before the shooting but he thinks Robbins should still lose his position for downplaying faculty concerns afterward.
The same day the report came out the Faculty Senate voted no confidence in Robbins, but after the vote a professor who supported the no confidence vote said she expected the administration to simply ignore it.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
