University of Arizona Professor shot and killed, community reacts
(CNN) - Thomas Meixner was a beloved husband, father and professor. He spent decades teaching at the University of Arizona.
Not only that, the memorial outside his office building on campus grew steadily throughout the day Thursday as friends, colleagues, and students feeling immense pain and sorrow.
"I'm probably the way the rest of the community is. We're shocked. We're outraged with another senseless murder. It just doesn't make any sense to us and we're just grieving for Brendan and Sean and their mom," Mike Urbanski, Assistant Principal at Salpointe Catholic, spoke.
Both of Meixner's sons are Lancers. Sean graduated a couple of years ago while Brendan is a senior on the cross-country team.
Michael Urbanski is a friend and teammate of Brendan's. Meixner was always there; a constant in his boys' life, always bursting with pride for his family.
"My heart just broke. I felt so bad for the family and for Brendan. He's the nicest guy in the world and for this to happen. I'll remember him as Brendan's dad, a dad of the team and somebody I would see at competition and who was always cheering us on," Urbanski explained.
"We were in Phoenix last weekend for a Cross-Country meet and I was kind of at the same spot on the course just watching him burst with pride as his son Brendan ran by having a personal best in that race."
Community Reactions
In addition, colleagues shared loving thoughts on social media, finding some words through their grief.
Dr. Jennifer Mcintosh, a professor in the Hydrology Department with Meixner writing on Twitter:
"I have no words. Only sobbing. Thank you to our supportive community for reaching out. The loss is immense, especially for his family. I just can't look at his smiling picture - as that was the grin he gave me talking about hydrology & teaching only a few hours earlier."
Additionally, "Life's very short. We see people a lot and we have really strong relationships with most people, it' just takes one time and one instance," Tito Morales spoke.
Mike Urbanski says Tom Meixner provided such a great foundation for his sons:
"We just want to remember what a great role model he was for his sons. I think that's how he would want to be remembered. he raised them to be great young men of strong character. Because of that they are resilient and they will persevere through this and the example he set for them is going to help them get through this."
