2023-08-29 03:34:00
an armed man shot dead a University of North Carolina (UNC) faculty member in Chapel Hill (United States) this Monday afternoon. Following the episode, which was described by the state governor as “a tragic way to start the semester,” authorities detained a “person of interest.”
The suspect, identified as Tailei Qi, He was arrested around 3:15 p.m. (local time) after the Police had asked the students and workers several hours earlier to lock themselves in the classrooms of the building. At the alert, people present on campus had barricaded themselves in dormitories, offices and classrooms for hours until the blockade was lifted.
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According to the website of the academic institution, It is a student who has already graduated from the university. who also attended Louisiana State University and Wuhan University in China. Added to this, since 2022 he was working in the establishment as a research assistant, reported the Daily Mail.
Through a press conference, UNC Police Chief Brian James said that no formal charges have yet been filed against Qi. In addition, it is also unclear if the suspect knew the victim, whose name was withheld by the authorities while they contact their relatives. According to him Daily Mailsome sources indicated that the agents were investigating a property near the place where the man was arrested.
The shooting occurred at the Caudill Laboratories, which are closed while the tests are processed. The university agent stated that the reason for the attack is unknown and that the weapon used by the suspect has not been found. According to James, there were no more deaths or injuries.
Tailei Qi, the suspect.
Friends of the suspect detailed that Qi seemed “nice” and that he was “very calm” when I was studying with someone else. in dialogue with WRAL, Ayden Scott indicated that he “never would have imagined that he (Qi) would be the type of person capable of doing this type of thing. He was always very quiet.” “Every time he spoke to me, he seemed very friendly. When I saw his face in online reports, I was beyond shocked,” he added.
Last month, the suspect had posted on social media that he would “like to make new friends”. “I would like to make new friends (…) A bit stupid in everyday trifles, very excited to talk about research. Contact me if you are interested,” he wrote on his X account, formerly Twitter.
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After hearing the shots, a person called 911 to report what happened. About two minutes later, the university’s emergency sirens began to wail. The first alert was sent just after 1:00 p.m.: “Alert Carolina! Emergency: Dangerous and armed person on or near campus. Enter now; avoid windows“.
At 1:50 p.m., officials posted on X that the shelter-in-place order was still in effect and that it was “an ongoing situation.” About 40 minutes later, the school added a post saying: “Stay sheltered in place. This is an ongoing situation. Suspect released.”
About two hours after the first alert, the agents kept coming in droves, with about 50 police vehicles on the scene and several helicopters flying over the school. Even an officer yelled “In, now!” to two people trying to leave the student union. About ten minutes later, authorities escorted a group of students out of one of the science buildings, all walking in an orderly line with their hands up.
About three hours after warning students to seek shelter inside and avoid windows, the school posted on X: “All clear. All clear. resume normal activities“. In this way, shortly before 4:00 p.m., students and teachers began to leave the campus buildings, and the confinement was ended.
The event took place a week after the start of classes at the most important public university in the state. As a result of the episode, the institution, with some 20,000 university students and 12,000 postgraduates, canceled tuesday classes. The nearby Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District also closed its schools for several hours as a precaution.
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During the closure, a student told the television network WTVD what he had barricaded his bedroom door with his furniture. Another student, speaking quietly, described how he hid in fear with others in a dark bathroom.
Adrian Lanier, a sophomore computer science student, told the news agency AP that he and others sat against a wall, trying to stay as far away from doors and windows as possible, and that they waited there for hours as rumors spread. “No one felt safe enough to go out. I don’t”Lanier detailed.
Friends of the suspect described him as “nice” and “very calm.”
Oliver Katz, an exchange student at the Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), reported that some students crowded into the changing rooms from gyms to get away from windows, while others crouched in the corners and sat on the groundbeing that the police evacuated them hours later.
“This never happens where I come from. It was intense. But I was a little surprised that other people weren’t panicking as much,” said Katz, who has only been on campus for two weeks. Added to this, he shared his concern about his home university sending exchange students home. ahead of time. “I don’t want to leave. I like it here, and I still feel safe“, held.
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Noel T. Brewer, professor of behavioral health, told the AP over the phone during the lockdown that he was once held at gunpoint in his mother’s jewelry store, but that events on Monday were “much more stressful”. Speaking from his locked office where he hid out with other colleagues, Brewer, 57, a married father of two, said he was receiving little information about events.
Added to this, he mourned for anyone who might have been shot. “But even in our own building, the students that are locked up and what they’re thinking about, it’s a lot. It’s a terrible situation“, the man assured.
The rector of the university, Kevin Guskiewicz, He was “devastated and saddened by the shooting” in one of the buildings on campus “where we carry out our important work of teaching, mentoring, and research every day.” “This shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted on our campus. We will work to rebuild that trust and safety,” he said.
For his part, the state governor, Roy Cooper, indicated through X that he was in contact with the relevant authorities. “This is a tragic way to start the new semester and the state will take care of providing any help necessary to support the university community,” he said.
MB / ED
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