Jake Diana was rushing to conduct his first lecture of the semester at 1 p.m. As a Ph.D. student, Jake was thrilled to secure the position of a teacher’s assistant at the coveted University of North Carolina.
As he moved through the hallways, he saw unusual activity outside the campus. Before he could register what was happening, the police cars were zooming down the South Road. And just then, the campus sirens were blaring, implying a security threat.
At that moment, life flashed before 28-year-old Jake; he knew these sirens indicated an ambush. The fear of the unknown had filled the campus. An alert was put out to seek a safe shelter immediately.
Jake led more than a dozen students to a conference room, barricaded the door with a bookcase, switched off the lights, silenced their phones, and lay on the ground. At the mercy of their fate, everyone held their breaths, praying for one more chance at life. Jake prayed, “I said to God, I said, ‘I have to get through this.’ I said, ‘I want to do so much with my life,'” and texted his family and friends.
After harrowing three hours, the university declared “all clear,” finally relieving the trapped students and staff. Jake, with others, breathed a sigh of relief, with immense gratitude for their lives. Yet, they were still oblivious to a more sinister situation at their campus.
But what exactly happened at the university? Why was there a sudden alert? Why were police cars rushing in?
A faculty member of the University of North Carolina was shot dead by an armed man. The suspect was apprehended after 90 minutes. All the classes and events were canceled for the day. A lockdown was issued on the campus; students and staff were alerted to remain inside and lock all doors and windows. An “all clear” was declared after three hours.
What Happened at UNC-Chapel Hill Today?
At around 1 p.m., all the phones on the campus buzzed with notifications about an armed and dangerous person “on or near” the perimeters. Particularly, a lingering threat surrounded the school’s Caudill Laboratories. Witnesses heard gunshots and immediately alerted the police.
Police arrested the assailant at around 2:30 p.m. Later, the officers confirmed that a faculty member was killed, although no other details about their identity have been released.
Fortunately, no other injuries have been recorded. Police have identified the assailant as Tailei Qi as a person of interest.
Brian James, chief of the U.N.C. Police, said– “We really want to know the ‘why’ in this case and what led to it.”
“That will hopefully be uncovered through interviews of the suspect as well as any witnesses that may be available.”
Meanwhile, UNC Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz expressed his anguish in a letter to the university community–
“I am 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.”
Who Is Tailei Qi? Details On The Suspect Of UNC-Chapel Hill Shooting
The police surrounded a person dressed in a dark shirt and jeans and wearing glasses, as seen in the recorded video by a WRAL reporter. The suspect was taken into custody at Williams Circle Chapel Hill.
WRAL reported the perpetrator’s identity after inspecting his digital footprint. Here are a few details on Tailei Qi–
- Tailei obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Wuhan University in China.
- He then pursued his master’s in Material Science and Engineering from Louisiana State University.
- After securing his master’s degree, he immediately enrolled at UNC and was a 2nd year Ph.D. student. He was a part of the Yan research group in January 2022.
- Tailei studied advanced science, including Nano Particles Synthesis, Light-Matter Interaction, Spectra analysis, and Machine Learning.
- After scrubbing through his earlier tweets, it was deduced that Tailei might be suffering from mental instability. He wrote about loneliness and also had excerpts about bullying in America.
- Police have not yet determined whether the Tailei knew the victim beforehand. They are still in the process of interrogating him to determine the motive.
- A month before the shooting, he made a social media post about making new friends–: “Would like to make some new friends. I am a second-year PhD student interested in nanoparticle synthesis, optical trapping, self-assembly, spectra analysis, and ML.”
Regardless of the motive, Tailei did commit a heinous crime. We pay our respects to the victim.
What are your thoughts on this case? Do you think Tailei was suffering from mental illnesses? Do you believe the theory that he was bullied and did this out of revenge?
Let us know in the comments section.
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