UNC shooting updates: Suspect Tailei Qi complained about professor Zijie Yan online before Chapel Hill attack

The graduate student accused of killing his professor in a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had complained about the victim online in the lead-up to the attack.

Tailei Qi, a PhD student majoring in applied physical sciences, was arrested and booked into Orange County Sheriff’s Office jail on a first-degree murder charge for fatally shooting Zijie Yan, the head of the Department of Applied Sciences.

In court on Tuesday, he was ordered to be held without bond and is expected to appear for his next hearing on 18 September.

Authorities said during Mr Qi’s court hearing that a 9mm was used in the shooting.

The motive for the shooting remains unclear but Mr Qi’s social media reveals he had complained about his head of lab in the lead-up to the shooting.

In other posts, he also railed against hard work, “girls and tattletales” and complained about bullies in the US.

“Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time,” he wrote in a post in August 2022, reviewed by The Independent.

Key Points

UNC faculty member killed in shooting at Chapel Hill campus
Who was UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim Zijie Yan?
Graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty

PICTURED: Alleged shooter Tailei Qi appears in court

06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

UNC students march demanding gun control

06:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

March For Our Lives co-founder David Hogg speaks at a gun safety rally (AP)

Students hold signs during a gun safety rally following a fatal shooting (AP)

Students march demanding gun control after campus shooting

05:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Hundreds of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill marched in a rally, demanding that lawmakers address gun violence across the state.

Students from different groups, including March For Our Lives and Students Demand Action, participated in the rally while holding up a large banner that read: “This is our reality.”

“In a matter of seconds, we went from taking notes, walking in the quad, being at home, to being forced to run, barricade the doors; there’s nothing normal about returning to school tomorrow,” said Kyle Lumsden, a volunteer with UNC Students Demand Action, according to The News&Observer.

“There’s nothing normal about hearing from people, ‘Thoughts and prayers,’ and the continuous idea that we cannot prevent these tragedies.”

Mitchell Pinsky, a UNC graduate student and member of Students Demand Action, added: “We can’t even make it a full two weeks without gun violence wreaking havoc on our campus.”

2019 shooting at different UNC campus left two people dead

05:00 , Andrea Blanco

Harrowingly, the horror on Monday was a somewhat familiar sight for the UNC community coming four years after a mass shooting at the Charlotte campus.

Back on 30 April 2019 – on the last day of the spring semester classes – two people were killed and four injured in a mass shooting inside a classroom in the Woodford A. Kennedy Building.

The gunman – identified as former UNCC student Trystan Andrew Terrell – was arrested soon after.

In September 2019, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced life without the possibility of parole.

UNC students seen jumping from windows in heartwrenching videos during active shooter situation

04:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Heartwrenching videos show students hiding under desks and jumping from classroom windows during an active shooter situation the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The campus was placed on lockdown for several hours on Monday afternoon after an alert went out about an “armed person”. Police later confirmed one member of the faculty was killed and a suspect, identified as graduate student Tailei Qi, was taken into custody.

The motive for the shooting, which took place at the centre of the campus in one of the science buildings, remains unclear.

Throughout much of the active situation, those under the “shelter in place” order did not have any idea what was going on.

Videos posted to social media captured sirens wailing as students and faculty barricaded themselves in dorms, bathrooms, classrooms, and gyms across the sprawling grounds.

Videos show students jumping from windows and hiding under desks during UNC shooting

UNC holds vigil in honor of slain professor Zijie Yan

03:59 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Vigil Held At UNC Chapel Hill For Faculty Member Killed By Student (Getty Images)

UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member

02:00 , Andrea Blanco

A graduate student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has been charged with first-degree murder over the on-campus shooting that left one faculty member dead.

Tailei Qi, a second-year PhD student majoring in applied physical sciences, has been charged with the fatal shooting of his academic advisor, Zijie Yan. Mr Qi is facing charges of first-degree murder and carrying a weapon while on campus.

The suspect appeared in court on Tuesday and had an interpreter explain to him what happened in the courtroom in Mandarin, the Associated Press reports. He was ordered held without bond and his next court hearing was scheduled for 18 September.

A motive was not immediately clear. Chancellor Kevin M Guskiewicz said in a statement on Tuesday that he has met with the family of the slain assistant professor’s family.

“My leadership team and I have met with his colleagues and family to express our condolences on behalf of our campus,” the statement read. “Please join me in thinking and praying for his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Who was UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim Zijie Yan?

01:00 , Andrea Blanco

Authorities have identified the faculty member killed in Monday’s shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

UNC PhD student Tailei Qi, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences and a researcher. Mr Yan was listed as his alleged killer’s academic advisor on Mr Qi’s UNC profile, which has since been removed from the university’s website.

Before joining UNC in 2019, he was an assistant professor at Clarkson University in New York and received postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. The slain professor leaves behind two young daughters.

UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim identified as associate professor Zijie Yan

Student who survived Parkland shooting ‘forced to relive grief’ five years later in UNC attack

Thursday 31 August 2023 00:00 , Andrea Blanco

A student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—who was also a Parkland school shooting survivor—said she was “forced to relive grief” following the UNC shooting this week.

Bella Miller was a freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February 2018 when a gunman opened fire at his former high school, killing 17 people.

Student who survived Parkland shooting ‘forced to relive grief’ in UNC attack

Students of Asian descent at UNC campus feared to be racially profiled after wrong arrest

Wednesday 30 August 2023 23:00

Shortly after the shelter-in-place order was issued, local media obtained footage of an on-campus arrest of who was believed to be the suspect in Monday’s shooting.

The young man was briefly handcuffed but was later released, with UNC police clarifying later that evening that authorities had mistaken the student, who was unaware of the lockdown, for the shooter because their “descriptions matched.”

Students of Asian descent told NBC News that they also feared they would be racially profiled before managing to find a place where they could barricade.

“We are all international Chinese. Sometimes I wear contacts but the other day I wore glasses. So I was a little bit afraid the police couldn’t differentiate me with the killer. If I came outside, I [could] also get handcuffed,” Johnson Wei told NBC.

The shooting in Chapel Hill took away the magic of a place I love

Wednesday 30 August 2023 21:18 , Andrea Blanco

“As soon as I got a text from a friend that a shooting was happening on campus, my heart sank,” The Independent’s Eric Garcia writes.

The shooting in Chapel Hill took away the magic of a place I call home

A new college term, a faculty member killed and a student arrested: What we know about the UNC shooting

Wednesday 30 August 2023 19:56 , Andrea Blanco

Tailei Qi shared several cryptic posts online after joining the University of North Carolina in 2022.

The well-educated graduate student – who previously studied at both Wuhan University and Louisiana State University – complained about bullies, aired his grievances with some “girls and tattletales” and grumbled about his head of lab.

What we know about UNC shooting suspect Tailei Qi

DA says he will not seek the death penalty in Tailei Qi’s case

Wednesday 30 August 2023 18:48 , Andrea Blanco

Mr Qi appeared in court on Tuesday and was ordered held without bail. The suspect had a Mandarin interpreter during his arraignment who explained court proceedings to him and was scheduled to reappear in court next month.

Prosecutors did not share a potential motive for why Mr Qi allegedly carried out the attack on Yan. In an interview following the hearing, Orange County District Attorney Jeff Niemen said he would not be seeking the death penalty in Mr Qi’s case “or any case,” FOX8 reports.

Responding to criticism about his stance on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Nieman said: “I was very transparent about my position on the death penalty in candidate forums.”

As I explain in the post linked above, the final decision on the death penalty rests with a jury, but it is the prerogative of the district attorney to seek or not to seek it. I felt it was only right for the voters of Chatham and Orange Counties know my position on this issue…
— Jeff Nieman (@JeffNiemanNC) August 30, 2023

Alleged shooter Tailei Qi described as 'somewhat reserved’

Wednesday 30 August 2023 17:55 , Andrea Blanco

Wen Liu, a 2022 UNC graduate who worked in the lab with Qi, said told the AP that he was “somewhat reserved” but still “pretty sociable.”

“For hours he would just be doing things and explaining along the way,” Liu said.

Liu also said that Qi would often answer other lab member’s questions with “patience and respect.”

Mentor remembers slain professor Zaijei Yan as ‘swee, dedicated’ researcher

Wednesday 30 August 2023 17:05 , Andrea Blanco

Doug Chrisey, Yan’s former advisor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, shared a heartfelt tribute on Tuesday.

“He would knock on my door with incredible experimental results and a huge smile ... He would leave feeling he didn’t understand anything about the nucleation and growth of nanoparticles, but still with a huge smile,” Mr Chrisey wrote in a Facebook post, according to The News & Observer.

“He had a resting sweet face — and everything about his personality was consistent with that,”

Classes cancelled until Thursday, UNC to honour slain professor

Wednesday 30 August 2023 16:19 , Andrea Blanco

Classes at the UNC Chapel Hill campus have been cancelled until Thursday following an active shooting situation that sent faculty into a panic and left one dead.

A day after the violence that led to the arrest of doctoral student Tailei Qi, therapy dogs, peace signs and messages of hope could be seen around campus as the community reeled from the traumatizing scene on Monday, WSOCTV reported.

On Wednesday, UNC’s Bell Tower will ring in honour of slain professor Zinjie Yan, who had joined the university in 2019.

Professor who survived 2019 shooting at UNC Charlotte campus had to barricade with student on Monday

Wednesday 30 August 2023 16:01 , Andrea Blanco

In 2019 I survived my first shooting as a graduate teaching instructor at UNCC. Four years later, I have barricaded my 25 students in our classroom at UNC- that is all windows on one side as an active shooter is apparently across the street from us. This can’t be real. pic.twitter.com/teAdowI0B7
— Megan Foster (@spdancer222) August 28, 2023

UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim identified as associate professor Zijie Yan

Wednesday 30 August 2023 15:02 , Andrea Blanco

Authorities have identified the fatal victim in Monday’s shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

UNC PhD student Tailei Qi has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the department of applied physical Sciences and researcher who also served as Qi’s adviser, according to the university’s website.

UNC at Chapel Hill student newspaper’s heartwrenching front page

Wednesday 30 August 2023 14:30 , Andrea Blanco

The Daily Tar Heel’s front page on Wednesday featured messages received and sent by students during the three-hour lockdown prompted by the active shooting situation on Monday.

The front page of tomorrow's @dailytarheel –

I shed many tears while typing up these heart-wrenching text messages sent and received by UNC students yesterday. Our campus was on lockdown for more than three hours.

Beyond proud of this cover and the team behind it. pic.twitter.com/2gE51TrHZ8
— Caitlyn (she/her) (@caitlyn_yaede) August 30, 2023

Who is UNC shooting suspect Tailei Qi?

Wednesday 30 August 2023 14:00 , Andrea Blanco

The suspect was identified on Tuesday as Tailei Qi, a graduate student who joined the Yan Lab of the college in 2022.

Based on his online bio at the UNC, he studied under Dr Zijie Yan – the leader of the physical chemistry group the Yan Research Group and head of the Department of Applied Physical Sciences.

Before joining UNC, Mr Qi previously studied material science at Louisiana State University and physics at Wuhan University.

A Twitter account believed to belong to Mr Qi reveals that he had railed against his work and his head of lab as well as what he described as “bullies” in the US before allegedly carrying out the shooting.

In a post on 1 August 2022, he wrote: “Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time.

“Explanation is not a solution but makes them feel others will plead them every time they raise a problem, making them voyeur to find an excuse day and night.”

Two weeks later on 18 August 2022, he tweeted about his “PI” – referring to his unnamed head of lab – handling “these girls and tattletales”.

“Just have a talk with my PI and get his promise. He should have more experience to handle with these girls and tattletales,” he wrote.

“Then, we can just get ourselves out of these stupid topic. Let’s just focus our attention on nature.I won’t change anything if not necessary.”

Slain professor Zinjie Yan’s alma mater issues statement

Wednesday 30 August 2023 13:00 , Andrea Blanco

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where Yan got his master’s in physics electronics, posted a tribute on Tuesday.

“He is remembered fondly by many of us that met him in the classroom, lab, or in the hallway of MRC,” a Facebook post read. “Among other things, he distinguished himself with publishing 17 journal articles in the course of his PhD study...”

UNC at Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M Guskiewicz said in a statement on Tuesday that he has met with Yan’s family.

UNC shooting suspect’s social media complaints about murdered faculty member revealed

Wednesday 30 August 2023 12:00 , Andrea Blanco

A University of North Carolina PhD student shared several posts on social media complaining about his academic adviser before allegedly shooting him dead in the science lab and plunging the Chapel Hill campus into lockdown.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:

UNC shooting suspect’s Twitter complaints about murdered faculty member revealed

Tailei Qi posted online about grievances with bullies

Wednesday 30 August 2023 11:00 , Andrea Blanco

UNC chancellor says Yan was ‘beloved colleague’

Wednesday 30 August 2023 10:00 , Andrea Blanco

UNC at Chapel Hill Kevin M Guskiewicz said in a statement on Tuesday that he has met with the family of slain assistant professor Zajie Yan.

“[Mr Yan] was a beloved colleague, mentor and friend to many on our campus. My leadership team and I have met with his colleagues and family to express our condolences on behalf of our campus,” the statement read. “Please join me in thinking and praying for his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

A new college term, a faculty member killed and a student arrested: What we know about the UNC shooting

Wednesday 30 August 2023 09:00 , Andrea Blanco

A college campus in North Carolina woke up on Tuesday gripped by fear, grief and many unanswered questions.

Just days into the start of a new term, students and faculty members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found themselves hunkering down inside classrooms and leaping from first floor windows as an active shooting situation unfolded on site.

Inside the science building, a faculty member was found shot dead.

What we know about the UNC campus shooting that killed faculty member

Tailei Qi is ordered held without bond during court appearance

Wednesday 30 August 2023 08:00 , Andrea Blanco

Mr Qi appeared in court on Tuesday and was officially charged with the first-degree murder of his academic advisor Dr Zijie Yan.

The alleged shooter was ordered held without bail and had an interpreter explain the proceedings to him in Mandarin.

Mr Qi, a PhD student at UNC at Chapel Hill, is scheduled to appear in court again on 18 September.

2019 shooting at different UNC campus left two people dead

Wednesday 30 August 2023 07:00 , Andrea Blanco

Harrowingly, the horror was a somewhat familiar sight for the UNC community coming four years after a mass shooting at the Charlotte campus.

Back on 30 April 2019 – on the last day of the spring semester classes – two people were killed and four injured in a mass shooting inside a classroom in the Woodford A. Kennedy Building.

The gunman – identified as former UNCC student Trystan Andrew Terrell – was arrested soon after.

In September 2019, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced life without the possibility of parole.

WATCH: UNC shooting suspect arrested after one faculty member confirmed dead

Wednesday 30 August 2023 06:00 , Andrea Blanco

Authorities probe motive behind shooting

Wednesday 30 August 2023 05:00 , Andrea Blanco

Police were searching for both the weapon and the motive in a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that left one faculty member dead and prompted an hours-long lockdown amid a search for the suspect.

The assailant in Monday afternoon’s shooting at a science building in the heart of the flagship university’s campus was taken into custody about an hour and a half after the gunfire was first reported, officials said at a news conference. Neither the suspect nor the victim were immediately identified and it wasn’t clear whether they knew each other. Formal charges were pending.

“To actually have the suspect in custody gives us an opportunity to figure out the why and even the how, and also helps us to uncover a motive and really just why this happened today. Why today, why at all?” UNC Police Chief Brian James said. “And we want to learn from this incident and we will certainly work to do our best to ensure that this never happens again on the UNC campus.”

He moaned about work, ‘bullies’ and his head of lab online. Then police say he shot dead a UNC faculty member

Wednesday 30 August 2023 04:00 , Andrea Blanco

“Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time,” he wrote in one post in August 2022.

But – despite the complaints – the messages could not prepare anyone for the horror of what happened next.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:

What we know about UNC shooting suspect Tailei Qi

ICYMI: Shooting at UNC at Chapel Hill leaves one dead

Wednesday 30 August 2023 02:00 , Andrea Blanco

UNC police had issued an alert about an active shooting situation at the campus shortly after 1pm on Monday, following reports of shots being fired in the science building.

Students were ordered to shelter in place and barricade themselves inside lecture halls amid the active situation.

Footage shared online shows desperate students and faculty members jumping from windows or hunkering down in classrooms as the UNC Police, FBI, ATF and SWAT teams canvassed the campus for the shooter.

Nearly an hour and a half into the ordeal, UNC police released a photo of a person of interest and asked the public to call 911 and proceed with caution if they spotted the individual. A name was not released but the photo released by authorities matched the one on Mr Qi’s UNC profile page.

Mr Qi was then arrested near a residential area two miles from campus on Williams Circle and the shelter-in-place order was lifted at around 4.30pm.

At a press conference later that evening, UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and UNC Police Chief Brian James confirmed one faculty member had been killed.

UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim identified as associate professor Zijie Yan

Wednesday 30 August 2023 01:00 , Andrea Blanco

Yan joined UNC in 2019. Before that, he was an assistant professor at Clarkson University in New York and received postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago.

UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim identified as associate professor Zijie Yan

Alleged UNC shooter is well-educated researcher who was described as ‘very quiet’ by former classmate

Wednesday 30 August 2023 00:00 , Andrea Blanco

According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Qi graduated from Wuhan University in 2015 and also received a master’s in material science from Lousiana State University in 2021.

Mr Qi then joined UNC at Chapel Hill’s Yan Lab in 2022, with his profile page on the university’s website taken down by Tuesday morning.

The suspect worked as a researcher in China before pursuing a doctoral career in America.

UNC graduate student Aiden Scott, a former classmate of Mr Qi, described him as “very quiet” but “nice.”

“I would have never guessed that he would be the kind of person who could possibly be capable of this kind of thing,” Mr Scott told WRAL. “Every single time he would talk to me, he seemed very nice... when I saw his face in the reports online, I was beyond shocked,”

UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member

Tuesday 29 August 2023 23:00 , Andrea Blanco

A graduate student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has been charged with first-degree murder over the on-campus shooting that left one faculty member dead.

UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged in shooting of faculty member

WATCH: Graduate student charged in UNC Chapel Hill murder

Tuesday 29 August 2023 21:22 , Andrea Blanco

PICTURED: UNC shooting suspect Tailei Qi appears in court

Tuesday 29 August 2023 21:02 , Andrea Blanco

Alleged shooter Tailei Qi appears in court

Tuesday 29 August 2023 20:42 , Andrea Blanco

Mr Qi appeared in court on Tuesday and was officially charged with the first-degree murder of his academic advisor Dr Zijie Yan.

The alleged shooter was ordered held without bail and had an interpreter explain the proceedings to him in Mandarin.

Mr Qi, a PhD student at UNC at Chapel Hill, is scheduled to appear in court again on 18 September.

Tailei Qi’s ranting posts on X

Tuesday 29 August 2023 20:40 , Andrea Blanco

Tailei Qi posted online about grievances with bullies, his PI and girls (X/Tailei Qi)

Victim was suspect academic advisor

Tuesday 29 August 2023 20:20 , Andrea Blanco

The victim was identified on Tuesday as Dr Zijie Yan as officials said that they needed to first notify next of kin.

Yan is believed to be the very same lead faculty member that the suspect railed against online, as Mr Qi’s head of lab.

Yan led the Yan Research Group, which Qi joined last year, after joining the Chapel Hill faculty in 2019, according to the group’s UNC webpage.

Prior to this he earned his PhD in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York before working as an assistant professor at Clarkson University.

While the victim and suspect’s connection is now clear, the motive remains under investigation.

“And we want to learn from this incident and we will certainly work to do our best to ensure that this never happens again on the UNC campus.”

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M Guskiewicz said in a statement that a hotline and other mental health resources were on offer for staff and students affected by the shooting.

“The students are certainly traumatised,” he said.

“But I want to commend those who were inside the building ensuring everyone’s safety.”

Classes have been canceled through Tuesday following the deadly shooting.

“Due to today’s incident on campus, UNC-Chapel Hill will operate at a Condition 2 on Tuesday, Aug. 29. This means that classes are canceled, and non-mandatory operations are suspended,” the UNC said in an update.

Who is UNC shooting suspect Tailei Qi?

Tuesday 29 August 2023 20:00 , Andrea Blanco