The former student who authorities said shot and killed a University of Arizona professor had not only been threatening the school’s hydrology department, but other staff members as well, causing one college official to work from home because she was afraid of what he was going to do, police records show.
Police said Murad Dervish, 46, entered the John W. Harshbarger Building on Oct. 5 and shot Professor Thomas Meixner in an office. Meixner was the head of the school’s hydrology department and an expert on desert water issues.
Dervish fled the scene and was found three hours later traveling south on Arizona 85 toward Mexico, 30 miles south of Gila Bend, court records say.
Dervish has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited possessor, endangerment and burglary. He is being held without bond at the Pima County jail.
Prior to the shooting, Dervish had been expelled from the UA and barred from being on campus in February after he had been the subject of several reports of harassment and threats to staff members working at the Harshbarger Building, court records show. His teaching assistant contract also had not been renewed by the university.
In April, a UA assistant dean of students had been receiving threatening emails from Dervish while he was awaiting the outcome of his appeal to the dean of students. He had been emailing her threats such as, “If you don’t I promise the consequences are going to be absolutely catastrophic,” UA police reports say.
In another email, Dervish told the UA official, “Mr. (expletive deleted) Meixner attacked me in the hallway and I defended myself and your office needs to do something about that/ I don’t think you have any clue who you are dealing with but you are about to find out and I really don’t think you’re going to like it,” records say.
In one meeting, Dervish called the assistant dean of students a racial slur to her face, records say.
The UA official reported the threats to the UA Police Department, telling them she supervises Dervish’s appeal process and had many contentious meetings and emails with him, records say. She also said his demeanor was becoming more aggressive and believed he was capable of carrying out any threat, leading her to work from home for two days because she “just doesn’t know what this guy will do.”
Despite being in her profession for over 25 years and having a high threshold for inappropriate behavior, she told police she believed the threats should be taken seriously and wanted to press charges against Dervish, records state..
On April 15, two UAPD officers went to Dervish’s residence and introduced themselves. Dervish told the officers they would need to get a warrant if they wanted to talk further, records say.
The officer told Dervish a warrant wasn’t necessary and asked if he wouldn’t mind stepping outside. When Dervish refused, the officer explained that he was going to be charged with two counts of misdemeanor threats due to his communication with UA staff, records say.
When the officer asked Dervish to open the door so he could sign the citation, he refused and asked the officer to slide it under the door instead, records say. After a back and forth between the two, the officer told Dervish he would be filing the paperwork with the court and request that a warrant be issued. Dervish told him to do whatever he needed to do.
As the officers were leaving, a neighbor asked why they were meeting with Dervish, explaining to them that he routinely has outbursts where he shouts obscenities out loud, sometimes toward her and her roommates, records say. The officer advised her to let her landlord know and to contact the police if he acts out in the future.
On April 18, Dervish emailed the UA official again, asking her to accept his apology and withdraw the charges, records say.
Earlier this week, UA President Robert Robbins said UAPD had asked the Pima County Attorney’s Office twice to file criminal charges against Dervish.
Pima County attorney Laura Conover responded to Robbins’ statement, saying county prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge Dervish with misdemeanor threats and intimidation, Palmer reported.
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