What we know about the shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill after arrest of suspect
A graduate student was arrested in the shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday that left a member of the faculty dead and put the entire campus on lockdown for more than three hours.
The university identified the professor who was killed as Zijie Yan, 38. He was an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, where he led the Yan Research Group.
Tailei Qi, 34, was taken into custody on Monday approximately an hour-and-a-half after the initial alert went out from the university just after 1 p.m. warning of an armed and dangerous person on campus. Yan was Qi’s adviser, according to Qi’s UNC bio.
Qi has been charged with first-degree murder and possessing a firearm on educational property, and had his first appearance in Orange County District Court in Hillsborough on Tuesday afternoon. He is being held in jail without bail.
Qi was taken into custody at 2:38 p.m., according to the university, which did not give an all-clear and lift the guidance to shelter in place until nearly two hours later. During a news conference on Monday, UNC Police Chief Brian James said police needed to verify the suspect’s identity and secure the rest of the campus before lifting the lockdown.
Here’s what we know so far.
Who is the suspect in UNC shooting?
UNC officials first said in an email update Monday evening that a suspect had been taken into custody earlier Monday afternoon. Later, during a news conference, James said that authorities had arrested a suspect and verified his identity.
On Tuesday morning, Tailei Qi, a 34-year-old graduate student in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, was booked and charged with first-degree murder and possessing a firearm on educational property.
Qi joined the department in January 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile, after completing a master’s degree at Louisiana State University in 2021 and an undergraduate degree at Wuhan University in China, in 2015.
On the website of the Yan Research Group, the group states its primary research goal “is to transcend the boundary between photonics and materials science by developing new techniques to study light-matter interactions at the nanometer scale.”
Qi posted about his time as a graduate student at UNC on Twitter, writing about his research and working in the lab. He also wrote about wanting to make new friends, and in other tweets described conflicts with other people in the lab.
In one tweet, posted on Aug. 18, 2022, Qi wrote he had just spoken with his PI, or principal investigator: “Just have a talk with my PI and get his promise. He should have more experience to handle with these girls and tattletales.”
The Orange County District Attorney said he will not seek the death penalty. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on the murder charge, The N&O reported. He will be represented by a capital defender.
UNC grad student charged with murder of professor will not face possible death penalty
What do we know about the professor who was killed?
Zijie Yan was an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, where he led the Yan Research Group, which included three graduate students, one of whom was Qi, as well as a research assistant and two undergraduate students.
Yan established the research group in 2015 while working as an assistant professor at Clarkson University, and brought it to UNC in 2019.
After obtaining his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, Yan obtained his PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2011, and completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Chicago between 2011 and 2015.
Former colleagues of Yan’s at Rensselaer posted a tribute to him on Facebook, writing that Yan “is remembered fondly by many of us that met him in the classroom, lab, or in the hallway of MRC.”
Yan had two young children, according to court documents, The News & Observer reported.
Dr. Zijie Yan, prolific, resilient and generous scientist, killed in UNC shooting
Timeline of shooting and lockdown on UNC campus
1:02 p.m.: UNC is notified of shots fired inside Caudill Labs on South Road, according to the university.
1:03 p.m.: An initial alert from UNC states that campus police have reported an “armed and dangerous person on or near campus.”
2:04 p.m.: A follow-up alert states that the campus remains on lockdown “as the active assailant situation continues.” The alert advises that anyone on campus should stay sheltered in place, and anyone off campus should stay away from the campus.
2:35 p.m.: UNC police release a photo of a man who is described as a “person of interest” in the ongoing situation. Police say that if anyone sees the person in the photo, they should keep their distance and put their safety first, and call 911.
2:38 p.m.: Officers take a suspect into custody off campus, according to the university. WRAL reported the suspect was arrested on Williams Circle in a neighborhood just under 2 miles from the scene of the shooting.
2:43 p.m.: Gov. Roy Cooper says in a tweet that he’s spoken with Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood and N.C. Department of Public Safety Secretary Eddie Buffaloe, and has pledged all the state resources that are needed to “capture the shooter and protect the UNC campus.”
3:14 p.m.: Another alert from the university advises everyone on campus to remain sheltered in place until an all-clear is given. The alert says all classes and events have been canceled for the rest of the day.
3:51 p.m.: UNC police continue to advise people on campus to stay sheltered in place.
4:14 p.m.: UNC police give the all clear, advising in an alert that people on campus can resume normal activities.
4:33 p.m.: Officials lift guidance to shelter in place but advise people to stay away from the university’s Caudill Labs.
5:20 p.m.: UNC officials confirm in an update that the university was notified of shots being fired inside Caudill Labs at 1:02 p.m. A suspect was taken into custody at around 2:38 p.m. The update advises that James and Guskiewicz will hold a news conference at 5:45 p.m.
5:30 p.m.: More than a dozen FBI agents arrive at the Wilson Library, which stands next to Caudill Labs.
A large bullet hole has shattered a window to the right of the library’s north entrance. Police officers are seen patrolling the edges of the building, searching bushes and storm drains with flashlights and a K-9 dog.
6 p.m. Guskiewicz confirms during a news conference that one UNC faculty member died in Monday’s shooting. Guskiewicz says the shooting has damaged the “trust and safety that is taken for granted in this community,” and thanks UNC police and other law enforcement for their response.
James says another person was detained by police based on the description provided to them of the suspect, as well as the person’s proximity to the location of the shooting, but that police quickly determined the person was not the suspect.
Josh Shaffer contributed to this report.
