TUCSON, Arizona (AP) — There have been many missed opportunities to expel and arrest the University of Arizona graduate student who shot and killed a professor last year, according to an independent investigation.
A report conducted by the PAX Group, a consulting firm with security expertise, into the October killing of hydrology professor Thomas Meixner was released Monday. A company contracted by the school interviewed about 140 people, including Meixner’s family.
“There was a systemic problem across the university that needed to be identified and fixed,” said President Robert Robbins at a press conference. “I am angry at myself for not doing more to prevent this tragedy.”
Robbins received the report late Friday.
From November 2021 to January 2022, faculty members in the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, chaired by Meixner, were found to be threatened and harassed by 47-year-old Murad Dervish. However, there was no coordinated leadership of the school’s threat assessment team.
So the faculty and staff went to the campus police and dean’s office. Both entities shared links to their mental health resources with Dervish. However, communication was broken. Sharing the information may have led to further investigations, and police may have tracked down criminal records and other behavioral red flags, the report said.
PAX has made 33 recommendations to schools in the areas of threat, communication and crisis response identification and management. This includes placing a campus chief of public safety in place and making necessary improvements to her UAlert system, which sends alerts to campus community members about active mass shooting situations. There was a glitch in the system during filming.
Some of these recommendations are already being implemented. Steve Patterson, a 25-year FBI veteran, will become interim Chief Security Officer in May. He plans to meet with Robbins and other officials on a regular basis.
In February 2022, a leaflet with Dervish’s photo was circulated among university officials, instructing them to call 911 if he entered the building.
Dervish is charged with seven felony counts related to the shooting, including first-degree murder.
Days after the shooting, Robbins said campus police twice tried to have Dervish charged before the shooting. The administrator filed a complaint with the Pima County Prosecutor, but was told there was not enough evidence.
“In both cases, the facts in the complaint did not meet the evidentiary requirements to indict (Dervish) for intimidation and intimidation charges at the time,” Laura Conover County Attorney said in a statement after the shooting. rice field.
In February, the UA Faculty Council released its own interim report on campus safety. The commission criticized the university for fostering an environment of “a conscious and consistent disregard for employee and student safety concerns,” reported the Arizona Daily Star.
In response, the university dismissed the faculty report in a statement, saying it was based on “misleading characterizations and selective use of facts and citations.”
Robbins on Monday retracted those statements.
“I also want to recognize the important work of the Senate Committee on Teachers,” Robbins said. I apologize for what I did.”
