The university has a student body population of about 32,000, along with more than 4,000 faculty and 9,000 staff members. This is the second week of the fall semester at the school.
![just cause 2 background muzzle flash png just cause 2 background muzzle flash png](https://images.vexels.com/media/users/3/143596/isolated/preview/df899fef2b1dd700a5b470a4d667f34f-3-muzzle-flash-fire-arm-by-vexels.png)
The university continued in lockdown for a couple hours after the suspect was detained because authorities were working to confirm they had the right person and trying to find the firearm that was used, James told reporters. The suspect was taken into custody shortly after 2:30 p.m., Guskiewicz said. Police detained one person before the suspect’s arrest but they determined “very quickly” it was not the gunman, James said. At times, people walked out of nearby buildings in a single-file line with their arms in the air. Video from CNN affiliate WRAL showed a large number of police vehicles at the campus with their emergency lights flashing. University of North Carolina faculty member is killed in campus shooting, and a suspect is in custody, school says Police work Monday at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A witness on campus told CNN they were locked down in their building and saw armed officers searching campus. We will work to rebuild that sense of trust and safety within our community,” Guskiewicz said on Monday.Īfter 911 calls about the shooting came in shortly after 1 p.m., university police issued an alert advising students to go inside immediately, close windows and doors and to wait until further notice, according to an email. “This loss is devastating and the shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community. This is the second week of fall semester classes at the flagship university of the 17-member UNC system. “It is too early in this investigation to know a motive for the shooting.”Ĭlasses and campus activities were canceled Monday and Tuesday, and will continue to be closed Wednesday, officials said. “We want to ensure that we gather every piece of evidence to determine exactly what happened here today and why it happened,” James said at a news conference Monday evening. The suspect was located on foot about a mile away and detained about 90 minutes afterward, James said. The early afternoon shooting at the school’s Caudill Laboratories, a chemistry studies building, sent the university into lockdown for hours. “He was a beloved colleague, mentor and a friend to so many on our campus, and a father to two young children,” he said.Įmergency responders gather on South Street near the Bell Tower on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus on Monday. UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz expressed his condolences to Yan’s family and said the campus will ring the bell tower in his honor on Wednesday. The maximum sentence for first-degree murder in North Carolina is the death penalty, but Nieman has said his office policy is to not seek the death penalty.
![just cause 2 background muzzle flash png just cause 2 background muzzle flash png](https://clipartcraft.com/images/muzzle-flash-clipart-side-5.png)
If convicted, Qi faces a minimum of life in prison without parole for the murder charge and up to two years for the weapons charge. The firearm used in the shooting still has not been recovered, James said. Nieman said the gun possession charge was related to a 9 mm handgun. He is a citizen of China and is in the United States on a visa, District Attorney Jeff Nieman said. He used an interpreter and was assigned a public defender for his first appearance. Qi entered the courtroom Tuesday wearing an orange jail outfit with his hands cuffed in front of him. Orange County Sheriff's Office, UNC-Chapel Hill Tailei Qi, left, is accused of fatally shooting UNC associate professor Zijie Yan.