TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Arizona is promising to make additional safety changes after an independent report found flaws in the university's safety practices before a professor was murdered on campus last October.
The violent death of Professor Thomas Meixner five months ago prompted the university to launch an independent review of the circumstances leading up to the faculty member's murder.
The findings of that review found there were "multiple missed opportunities" by university police to engage or detain the suspect before Meixner was killed, according to a report released Friday.
"...there was a lack of coordination among UAPD and regional law enforcement agencies to gather information that would have presented a more complete picture of the seriousness of the threat and provided more substantial reasons for arrest," the PAX Group wrote in its report.
The report additionally faulted the university for not running an effective threat assessment team -- a flaw that could have allowed the suspected shooter to continually harass and threaten community members.
In a statement released Monday, UArizona President Robert C. Robbins said he will be creating a safety advisory committee that will try to implement the 33 safety recommendations made in the recent report.
Robbins also said he'll be appointing a 25-year FBI veteran to serve as the university's interim chief safety officer.
The president acknowledged there were "systemic issues" across the university before Meixner's death and that he accepts responsibility for those failures.
"Tom Meixner will never be forgotten," Robbins said. "The best way to honor his legacy is to make changes, and to deepen our engagement with our work and with one another."
A separate report compiled by university staff earlier this year accused administrators of missing red flags before Meixner's death.
The full PAX Group report can be read below: