Outside of UNC-Chapel Hill, Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
Students, faculty and staff at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill experienced two lockdowns within three weeks after instances of gun violence on campus.
The Aug. 28 lockdown came after graduate student Tailei Qi approached UNC’s campus armed with intent to murder Associate Professor of Physical Sciences Zijie Yan, as stated by The Daily Tar Heel. Qi and Yan had previously worked together on research papers.
Several students took to social media to document their accounts of the lockdown. Law Student Alexander Cross stated in a TikTok video that “if one thing has become clear to [him] in the past 24 hours, it’s that professors need so much more training in active shooter situations.”
Cross stated that his professor continued teaching during the lockdown until the one-hour class interval was over and that he knew of other students whose professors moved class to Zoom.
According to The News & Observer, the university utilizes an online guide to prepare faculty and staff for emergencies. An updated version released in January suggested that if an emergency arises on campus or in the classroom, professors should stop teaching immediately.
Cross stated to The N&O that his professor inquired about the class’s opinion on continuing instruction, but that many of the 45 students were too anxious to be certain on this issue.
As of Aug. 29, Qi has faced charges of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm on campus according to USA Today and The Daily Tar Heel.
The second lockdown on Sept. 13 occurred after an individual directed his 9 mm handgun toward a worker inside the student union’s Alpine Bagel Cafe. According to The Daily Tar Heel, the suspect, Mickel Deonte Harris, was detained the same day.
In an interview with USA Today, law student Jason Naulty said he “thought there could be a glitch in the system because the timing of the alert was sent out so close to the last one.”
Naulty said this was before he and his classmates would learn that this was about another armed individual on the UNC campus. In a news conference after the Sept. 13 incident, Kevin Guskiewicz, Chancellor and Chief Executive of UNC at Chapel Hill, stated that it is “sad and alarming that there have now been two lockdowns over the past 16 days on our campus where we’ve had to apprehend individuals who violated the safety and well-being of our community.”
Guskiewicz stated that police trained for an active shooter scenario on campus but hoped that day would never come, according to The Daily Tar Heel. As for safety protocol, he said there have always been restrictions on firearm possession at UNC and that “guns are prohibited on [campus] and every campus across the state of North Carolina.”
Police chief Brian James said the university tries to provide the campus community with as much information on emergency procedures as possible. Guskiewicz named methods the university provides the community. One example included QR codes posted in classrooms with a website that extends resources and emergency protocols.
The UNC Campus Safety website provides a link to faculty and student training for emergency preparation, but it is an optional protocol. The campus also offers active assailant training to anyone involved on campus, according to media relations at UNC.
UNC students have since taken to the Raleigh General Assembly in protest of the Republican-led Assembly lawmakers. North Carolina Health News detailed that the lawmakers in question rejected proposed policies including gun permit requirements, safe storage bills and “red flag flaws.”
West Chester University Public Safety was contacted for a comment but did not reply at the time of publication
Angelina Stambouli is a second-year Communications Studies major with a minor in Journalism. AS1031816@wcupa.edu
Articles used:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article278721344.html
https://www.unc.edu/posts/2023/09/14/armed-suspect-causes-second-lockdown/