The former student who authorities said shot and killed a University of Arizona professor earlier this week had been the subject of several reports of harassment and threats to staff members working at the John W. Harshbarger Building, court records show.
The interim complaint filed in court also indicates a second person suffered minor injuries in the shooting.
On Oct. 5, police said Murad Dervish, 46, entered the Harshbarger Building 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.
According to the interim complaint, Meixner was shot at least four times with a 9mm handgun. Another individual who was in the same office at the time of the shooting was also struck and injured by bullet fragments. He was treated and released at the scene. The person's name was redacted from the interim complaint, which was filed by UA police.
Dervish had been expelled from the UA in February and was barred from being on campus. The UA Police Department said it was in the process of completing an exclusionary order for Dervish when the shooting happened.
In February, an email circulated to staff members included Dervish’s photograph and instructions to call 911 if he returned to the building, court records say.
On Wednesday, several people who knew Dervish saw him in the area before the shooting happened and one person had already called 911 to report his presence. Police Chief Paula Balafas said the time from the initial call to the shooting call was only a "matter of minutes."
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. Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers tried to stop Dervish but he refused.
Dervish was finally stopped after troopers used what's called a "PIT maneuver" to get the vehicle to stop. A search of his vehicle revealed a 9mm handgun loaded with ammunition consistent with the 11 shell cases found at the scene, court records say.
Prior to being questioned, Dervish made spontaneous comments to authorities such as: “I hope he’s okay, probably wishful thinking,” “I just felt so disrespected by that whole department,” “A woman wouldn’t have done this” and “I was going to kill myself, shoot myself, but I couldn’t,” according to the interim complaint.
Dervish’s initial appearance was on Thursday night through a video court proceeding from the jail. The judge ordered him held without bond until a hearing later this month.
Dervish is facing charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The interim complaint said an unrelated court order of protection prohibited Dervish from possessing a firearm.
