CHARLOTTE, N.C (TNS) — A UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member was killed and a suspect was taken into custody after a shooting prompted a three-hour lockdown Monday and rattled a campus one week into the new school year.
The faculty member’s name was not being released pending notification of family, university leaders said during a news conference Monday evening. The suspect’s name also was not released, and police said it was too early to know a possible motive. No other injuries were reported.
Students described a confusing and terrifying afternoon where they waited to evacuate and learn more information about the shooting at Caudill Laboratories in the central part of the public university.
“To be honest, I’m feeling pretty terrified right now, but I feel safe in the location I’m in and am thankfully with friends,” said Jackie Ruiz, a master’s student, who was walking on the main campus quad when she got the first Alert Carolina message shortly after 1 p.m. She ran into a nearby building and was taking shelter in a closet with other students, she said.
The university issued an “all clear” message at 4:14 p.m. A large bullet hole that shattered a window could be seen to the right of Caudill Laboratories’ north entrance Monday.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools also were locked down in the afternoon — the first day of school — until the all-clear was given.
Classes at the university were canceled Monday afternoon through Tuesday. Caudill Laboratories will remain closed as evidence is collected and processed, UNC Police Chief Brian James said.
“This loss is devastating, and the shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community,” Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said at Monday’s news conference. “We will work to rebuild that sense of trust and safety within our community, and our hearts are with the family of our fellow faculty member, those who are personally connected to the victim and those traumatized by this senseless act of violence.”
Timeline of UNC shooting
UNC Police received a 911 call reporting shots fired inside Caudill Labs on South Road at 1:02 p.m.
The university sounded campus alarms and issued an Alert Carolina message about an “armed and dangerous person on or near campus” at 1:03 p.m.
When police arrived at the labs, they found the faculty member who had been shot, James said.
People on campus were urged to shelter in place, with many huddling in bathrooms and barricading themselves in buildings throughout the afternoon.
An update at 2:24 p.m. said the campus remained on lockdown as the “active assailant situation” continued.
At 2:35 p.m. UNC Police released a photo of a “person of interest” they said was wanted in the investigation.
The suspect was taken into custody around 2:38 p.m. off campus, the university said. WRAL reported the suspect was arrested on Williams Circle, located in a neighborhood just under 2 miles from the scene of the shooting.
Police have not yet found a weapon, James said at Monday’s news conference at the Carolina Inn.
On campus, more than a dozen FBI agents entered Caudill Laboratories around 5:30 p.m. Officers patrolled the edges of the building, searching bushes and storm drains with flashlights and a K-9 dog.
Students scrambled to safety
Senior Anna Connors dropped her lunch and dashed into a nearby building when she saw people on campus start running. Because the building has big windows, she piled into an interior-facing lecture hall with about 20 other students. Together, the students barricaded the door with bookcases, and Connors wedged herself under a table to hide.
“At first, a lot of people were crying, calling loved ones, but now it’s quiet and everyone is just waiting to see what happens next,” Connors, a former Raleigh News & Observer intern, said Monday afternoon.
“I think the hardest part is everyone hears different things, and media spreads so fast these days, you just don’t know if what you’re hearing is true,” she said. “So you have to be patient and trust that UNC will let us know when things are OK.”
Luke Toscano, 18, had accompanied his roommate to campus when they received a text from the school saying there was an armed shooter. Toscano, his roommate and five other students locked themselves in a bathroom.
”We’ve been quiet in here and are a little more relaxed now,” Toscano said. “I haven’t received any training for this kind of circumstance.”
Monday marked the start of the second week of classes for the fall semester. About 30,000 students attend UNC.
Students seeking support can contact the university’s Dean of Students team or Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS. For urgent concerns, students should call 919-966-3658 to access the emergency protocol line. Faculty and staff should reach out to the Employee Assistance Program.
UNC announced that a hotline would be available at 8 a.m. Tuesday for “concerned parents, loved ones and community members who have questions. The hotline can be reached at 919-918-1999.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in secure mode
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools announced an “all-clear” for its students at 3:40 p.m., after putting all schools in “secure mode” earlier in the afternoon.
Elementary and middle school students were beginning to be dismissed. High school dismissal began at 4 p.m. Bus riders “may experience a significant delay” getting home, the district said. All after-school activities were canceled.
In a statement late Monday, Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger thanked first responders in town and outside the area who came together to respond to the shooting.
“We are heartbroken for the UNC students, faculty, and staff whose sense of safety on their beautiful campus was shattered by the day’s events and for those children, teachers, and staff who had to lock down on their first day back to our local schools,” Hemminger said in a statement.
“We know that this will be a difficult time and encourage you to reach out to someone if you need any emotional or mental help,” she wrote.
Locator map of deadly shooting in Chapel Hill, N. Carolina.
UNC Police released a photo of a “person of interest” they said was wanted in the investigation. (UNC Police/TNS)
North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers move around a building near South Street near the Bell Tower on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Monday afternoon, Aug. 28, 2023 after a report of a “armed and dangerous person”. (Kaitlin McKeown/News & Observer/TNS)
Law enforcement officers search for a person listed as ‘armed and dangerous’ on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Monday afternoon, Aug. 28, 2023. (Kaitlin McKeown/News & Observer/TNS)
