A Pima Community College student was shot to death on the University of Arizona campus late Sunday night, when a fight escalated to gun violence during a volleyball game outside a campus dormitory.
The shooting took place about 11 p.m. on the volleyball courts outside Arizona Sonora Residence Hall, a dormitory near Park Avenue and Fourth Street on the southwestern portion of the campus, the University of Arizona Police Department said.
Officers with the UAPD, who were alerted to the shooting by the Tucson Police Department, arrived on scene to find Minhaj Jamshidi lying next to a car in the parking lot of the dormitory.
Witnesses told the UAPD that Jamshidi had been shot on the volleyball court during a fight and had been carried to the parking lot where they waited for emergency responders to arrive.
Jamshidi died at the scene despite life saving measures being administered, police said.
University of Arizona police refused to disclose Jamshidi’s age. Pima Community College said he took classes in Building and Construction Technology.
“We heard five to six shots. After the first shot, we froze, (after) the second shot, we started running and hid behind the concrete wall that we have right in front of AZ-SO (Arizona Sonora Residence Hall),” said Devin Garmo, who was nearby. “Then we opened the door, pushed all the girls and guys inside and we ran out, because I was like, ‘I need to make sure the kid’s OK.’”
The fight, which broke out between two groups involved in the volleyball game, began when one man cursed at a woman in the game and her boyfriend started fighting in return, said Garmo who was studying in a study room on the dormitory’s second floor. By the time he and his friends came down, the fight had escalated and one person pulled out a gun, he said.
According to Garmo, the two groups in the fight involved about 20 to 30 people, though he estimated there were about 100 witnesses in the area.
Garmo said Jamshidi was shot multiple times. No other injuries were reported.
University of Arizona police released two low-resolution still images from a video taken by a witness at the shooting.
The suspect, who fled the scene before police arrived, ran north from the volleyball courts, according to UAPD. He was described to be 6 feet tall, 19 to 25 years old with collar-length, dark curly hair and facial hair, and was wearing a white short-sleeve T-shirt and tan shorts.
UAPD says the suspect isn’t affiliated with the university.
Housing and Residential Life, the UA campus housing body, refused to comment on the situation.
This incident is the second fatal shooting to take place on campus within two years, the last one having occurred on Oct. 5, 2022 when former UA Professor Thomas Meixner was shot and killed by a student in the John W. Harshbarger Building. Additionally, on April 28, a UA sophomore, Erin Jones, was killed during a shooting at a house party off campus.
This incident also comes days after an Arizona State University student suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being stabbed in a classroom on Thursday, according to The Arizona Republic. One student was taken into custody while the student who was stabbed was taken to a nearby hospital, according to ASU spokesperson Jerry Gonzalez.
A Pima Community College student was shot to death on the University of Arizona campus Sunday night. Friends and family react to the news after hearing he died at the scene despite life saving measures being administered.
University of Arizona police will conduct extra patrols in light of the deadly incident. Classes were held Monday, Sept. 23, as officials considered it to be an isolated incident and didn’t believe that the campus was under any ongoing threat. However, university mental health services was made available to students in need.
Pima College also offered support services to students impacted by Jamshidi’s death.
Several students who witnessed the incident were leaving town for a few days as a precaution, according to Garmo. Students in neighboring dormitories talked about the environment being very tense and sad since the shooting had taken place so close and those were areas they themselves frequented in the late hours of the evening.
The incident is being investigated as a homicide by the UAPD and TPD. Anyone with information is asked to contact UAPD at 520-621-8273. Anonymous tips can be called in to 88-CRIME.
