A PROFESSOR has died after he was gunned down inside a University of Arizona school building on Wednesday, cops say.
Police identified former student Murad Dervish, 46, as the person who they believe fatally shot the unnamed professor, prompting a lockdown for several buildings on campus.
University police said that a 911 call was made at 1.59pm about a former student at the Harshbarger Building who was not supposed to be there.
Moments later, a shot was fired, and the former student mentioned in the 911 call allegedly ran from the scene.
The victim, a professor, was shot and taken to Banner – University Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries in the emergency room.
Dervish was taken into custody during a traffic stop approximately three hours later.
During a press conference, police said that the relationship between Dervish and the professor was unknown.
Local newspaper AZCentral reported that Dervish was a former student of the hydrology professor and that two people witnessed the shooting.
Dervish was known to staff members as someone who was not supposed to be in the building at the time of the shooting, cops said.
Further information about the suspect was not released as of late Wednesday night.
Classes were canceled for the rest of the day after the gunfire at the university building.
“We just wanted people to leave campus,” said UAPD Sheriff Paula Balafas.
“We had a lot of people around the scene…it was just easier for us to be able to ask everyone to leave.”
Balafas said that the shooting happened shortly after the initial call to police, minutes before officers arrived on campus.
“It’s a tremendously tragic event,” she said.
“We feel so incredibly bad for the professor’s family, friends, and colleagues and our hearts definitely go out to them.
“It’s just one of those things that sometimes you can’t even predict.”
