UNC Chapel Hill Shooting Timeline as Faculty Member Killed

One faculty member is dead after students and staff at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill were placed on lockdown for several hours on Monday after reports of a shooting.

A campuswide alert was sent out by police at approximately 1:03 p.m. ET regarding an "armed and dangerous person on or near campus." Faculty and students were encouraged to "remain sheltered in place" in an additional update at 2:24 p.m. until the lockdown was lifted at 4:26 p.m. ET.

Details about what prompted the lockdown were unclear until a press briefing Monday evening, during which UNC Police Chief Brian James confirmed that one person—an unnamed faculty member—was shot and killed in the incident. According to James, no other injuries were reported, and additional information about the deceased individual is not being released at this time.

James told reporters that UNC Police first received a call about shots fired at Caudill Laboratories—a facility located near the heart of UNC's campus on South Road—at 1:02 p.m. ET on Monday. Police then quickly issued the campuswide emergency alert and initiated a lockdown just a few minutes later. Officers located the deceased faculty member upon arrival at the laboratory.

"Based on witness information at the scene, UNC Police were able to identify a suspect, and after a search of the surrounding area, the suspect was taken into custody at 2:31 p.m.," James said.

"The lockdown of the campus remained while police verified the suspect's identity and conducted a comprehensive search for the weapon that was used in the shooting, which at this time has not been located," the police chief added.

James told reporters that an investigation into the incident is ongoing. A formal name of the suspect that police have in custody is not being released at this time since charges have yet to be filed, he added.

James noted while taking question from reporters that after the suspect was taken into custody, police "still had to ensure" that they had apprehended the right person and "did not want to put that information out" without being completely sure.

"Also, we were receiving a number of calls around campus about possibly having other victims, there were a couple of other calls about possible gunshots, so we had to ensure that the entire campus was safe," James continued.

"We wanted to be sure that the campus was in fact all clear before we issued that, so that's why there was the lapse in time," he added. "We just wanted to be sure that we had that person in custody, and it was the correct person."

UNC Police released a photo of a "person of interest" connected to the shooting earlier in the day Monday, which appeared to match an online profile for UNC student Tailei Qi. The picture of Qi was posted to the police force's X account—the platform formerly known as Twitter—at 2:35 p.m. ET.

It remains unclear if Qi is the suspect currently in custody. Newsweek reached out UNC media relations via email for updates on the investigation.

In a message to the campus community, UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said that he was "devastated and saddened by today's shooting in one of our campus buildings, a place where we conduct 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," Guskiewicz continued. "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."

Kevin Best, the senior director of media relations for the university, also said in a statement directed to UNC students during Monday's press briefing, "I'm sorry, because I know so many of you are feeling uncertain about your safety right now."

"There's nothing more important on our campus than the safety and well-being of our community members and certainly our nearly 30,000 students are at the top of that list, alongside our faculty and staff," Best added. "So we're here for you, I'm pleading with you to use any of the resources that you may need, and we'll come together as a community to ensure your safety and the safety of anyone who visits our campus here in Chapel Hill."

Classes and campus operations have been canceled for the rest of the day Monday and all day Tuesday.

Update 8/28/23, 7:15 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.