Man Suspected of Killing Arizona Professor Is a Former Grad Student Who Was Barred From Campus

Three hours after University of Arizona professor Tom Meixner was shot and killed, police arrested 46-year-old Murad Dervis. His father told Inside Edition that he is a dangerous man with prior arrests.

A former grad student who had allegedly been barred from campus is suspected of shooting and killing University of Arizona science professor Tom Meixner. 

Just after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, university police received an urgent call stating that the ex-student was in the building. The caller asked police to remove him, but shots were fired minutes later, before cops had arrived.

Meixner, 52, was pronounced dead at a hospital in Tucson. The entire campus was placed on lockdown.

Three hours later, police arrested 46-year-old Murad Dervish 120 miles from campus. His father told Inside Edition that he is a dangerous man with prior arrests.

The Arizona campus shooting comes on the heels of the shocking stabbing death of a Purdue University student in his dorm room in Indiana on Wednesday.

Police arrested Jimmy Sha after they say he called 911 reporting the death of his roommate, a 20-year-old student from Indianapolis.

Cops say it was the first homicide on campus at Purdue University in more than eight years.

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