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'It's been a lifetime struggle for us': Father of UArizona shooting suspect says he has history of violence, mental illness

Murad Dervish is accused of shooting and killing professor Thomas Meixner last week.

TUCSON, Ariz. — The father of the man accused of killing a University of Arizona professor said he tried to get his son help for most of his life.

Murad Dervish is accused of shooting and killing professor Thomas Meixner last week.

According to court records, Dervish had been expelled from the university and not allowed back on campus. 

“When he was about 18 years old, I found a note in his pocket for how he was going to [commit] suicide," his father, Dolgun Dervish, said.

Dervish said his son was diagnosed with Asberger's as a child and struggled with alcohol and violence.

“He pulled a knife on a pizza man. So he went to jail," Dervish said. "After he tried to kill his mother in San Diego, he went to prison for a couple of years”

“There was no medication available then, and there is nothing we can do," Dervish said. "We tried to get him all kinds of therapies, send him to school. He refused all of it."

Court records show Murad Dervish also had a restraining order against him in San Diego. Court records show he was not supposed to have a gun. 

RELATED: Suspected shooter who killed UArizona professor was previously banned from campus, court docs show

But police say he took a gun to the University of Arizona campus last week when he killed Meixner. 

Dolgun Dervish said he wants other parents to know there is help out there, even if it didn't help his son. 

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