University of Arizona professor ‘gunned down by former student Murad Dervish’ in horror shooting at Harshbarger building

ONE person was killed and a suspect was arrested after a college campus shooting in which police say a former student and his professor were involved.

Police identified 46-year-old Murad Dervish as the person they believe fatally shot the unnamed professor at the University of Arizona, prompting a lockdown of several buildings on campus.

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University police said in a news conference after the shooting that an 911 call was made at 1:59 p.m. about a former student in 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 she later died from her injuries in the emergency room.

Hours later, Derivsh was finally taken into custody after a traffic delay.

During a news conference, police said Dervish’s relationship with the professor is currently unknown.

According to police, Dervish was known to staff as someone who was not supposed to be in the building at the time of the shooting, but no prior information is known about him.

Classes were canceled for the rest of the day, police said.

“We just wanted people to get off campus,” said UAPD Sheriff Paula Balafas. “We had a lot of people in the scene … it was just easier for us to be able to ask everyone to leave.”

Balafas said the shooting happened shortly after the initial call to police, minutes before officers arrived on campus.

“It is a tremendously tragic event. We feel so incredibly bad for the professor’s family, friends and colleagues and our hearts are definitely with them,” she said.

“It’s just one of those things that sometimes you can’t even predict.”

The professor has not been identified, but Balafas said he works in the hydrology department.