TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It’s been two weeks since the shooting at the University of Arizona leading to the tragic death of Professor Thomas Meixner.
The shooting raised questions on safety at other local campuses and if they're prepared for similar emergencies.
Pima Community College Chief of Police Michelle Nieuwenhuis said since the incident happened, they’ve reviewed security measures and protocol.
So far, they checked all classroom door locks, received single officer response to active shooter training, and showed staff how to utilize safety procedures in their workspace.
But their main focus is on managing and monitoring cases involving concerns of behavior.
“We’ve got individuals in place, a behavioral assessment team, that will look at that behavior objectively and make a determination of what resources are needed, and what best steps we should take next,” she said.
She said expulsion is a last resort.
“Sometimes expulsion or removal gives you a bit of a blindspot to monitoring the behavior. Now, if the behavior is disruptive enough, there really is no option. You’ve got to remove the person from the institution. But if you can stabilize that person in place, keep them enrolled, it gives you a visual on how they’re doing,” said Nieuwenhuis.
Still, student Brandon Jainarine is concerned and believes more could be done.
“He went to work not knowing that was going to happen, you know. So as a student’s perspective, I definitely have that thought too,” he said. “It’s definitely scary. I don’t really see a whole lot of police officers, definitely not as many as I think there should be.”
Student Yousef Sadi agreed there could be more officers on campus, but is doing what he can by staying aware.
“I just feel like people should just be aware, at all times, just because of something like that. You’re at a public place and you never know what people are thinking and it’s sad people think like that, you know,” he said.
Chief Nieuwenhuis said students and staff should call campus police 520-206-2700 if they have anything to report.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
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