According to UNC-Chapel Hill representatives and police, a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill allegedly shot and murdered a faculty member on Monday afternoon, leading to a lengthy campus lockdown.
A graduate student in applied physical sciences named Tailei Qi was arrested on Monday afternoon. Police announced at a press conference Monday night that formal charges are still pending.
While trying to contact the deceased faculty member’s family, university representatives and the police did not disclose their identity.
Police have not identified a motive, but Qi’s Twitter tweets showed signs of stress, melancholy and frustration. His “PI,” or primary investigator, is typically a faculty member designated by the institution to work with students on research projects. This year and the year before, he made a number of hazy posts concerning dispute with other students and his “PI” or principal investigator.
Whether or not that PI was the deceased professor is unclear.
UNC-Chapel Hill tragic story behind this shoot
Just feel my privacy was insulted,” Qi wrote on July 18, 2022, in a Twitter post. When I work, I’ll believe I’m undermining the purpose of my work by showing my supervisor that I am working rather than engaging in interests. That is very repulsive. I’m unable to work because of my self-respect. Then, I have to work hard to persuade myself that what I do is just what I enjoy.
On August 1 of the previous year, he posted:
Bullying appears to be a problem in America. It frequently results from individuals failing to stop them the first time. Although explanation is not a solution, it gives people the impression that others would defend them whenever they raise a concern, which leads them look for an explanation all the time.
He posted another cryptic message concerning a dispute with students involving his PI on August 18, 2022.
Just get my PI’s guarantee by speaking with him. He ought to be more qualified to deal with these gals and tattletales given his experience. Then, we can easily exit this pointless discussion. Let’s just concentrate on the natural world. If it’s not essential, I won’t make any changes.
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His posts about disagreements with his PI and other students in October 2022 were once again cryptic: On October 31, 2022, he said, “Both the group of individuals to claim I’m lazy and that to demonstrate that I’m working hard instead of informing me that they’re trying to invade my privacy. “I determine that their only goal is to reveal my PI and then manipulate me through storytelling. He posted on Facebook”
He said that nobody ever mentioned it to him. So for these folks, it’s just some voyeurism?”
On May 30 of this year, Qi made another hazy post in which he appeared to once more lament his workplace: “These kind of people may be a good man actually, but may not be a true buddy,” he said. For a Ph.D. student, paying close attention to one’s working hours each day is absurd.
I’m aware that many people want me to demonstrate my continued labor, but that’s simply not human.
He published a series of cryptic postings disparaging women in June of this year.
He wrote on June 5: “Many counter-intuitive (sic) situations in society: minimum wage do more harm than good to instead protect the poor; gender quota is not to protect women but to enhance discrimination.”
He wrote on Facebook that evening, June 12, “When this kind of girl does her ‘best’ to beg others to ‘help’ me, then all people look down on me.” “Kind of an angelic bitch.”
The tweet before that was missing context because several others were deleted.
He wrote in a post on July 31 that he wanted to make new pals.
He remarked, “Would like to make some new friends.” “ML, self-assembly, spectra analysis and nanoparticle synthesis are some of my research interests as a second-year PhD student. a little naïve in everyday trivia, yet quite passionate while discussing studies. Contact me if interested.
He posted just one mysterious question on that day: “What is truth?”
Students spent several hours incarcerated in classrooms in UNC-Chapel Hill.
After hearing allegations of gunfire at Caudill Labs, which houses chemistry labs, just after 1 p.m. on Monday, the UNC-Chapel Hill sent an alert Carolina campus community. All courses and events on campus were postponed, including a special board of trustees meeting at UNC-Chapel Hill.
As police hunted for the shooter, students, instructors and staff took cover inside classrooms, libraries, labs and dorms, shutting out lights and barricading doors.
The UNC-Chapel Hill campus police identified Qi as a person of interest and posted a photo of him at 2:35 p.m.
According to UNC-Chapel Hill police, a different male who was not involved in the shooting was first detained on Monday but was later released. According to a statement from UNC Police, Qi was apprehended by police at 2:31 p.m. along Williams Circle, about a mile away from campus.
In his remarks during the news conference, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said, “This is really a time for the community to come together. Sadly, these terrible incidents are occurring all over our country. This is the reason we plan and discuss community. The victim’s family, friends, coworkers and students who are a member of that department are currently in my thoughts and prayers.
Early in the afternoon, UNC-Chapel Hill Hospitals was placed on lockdown, although a hospital official said that no one had been admitted with injuries related to the event. Soon after 4 o’clock, the hospital lockdown was removed and the police gave the all-clear.
After the lockdown was released, police and FBI agents were on campus and searching Caudill Labs, where a window had a bullet hole in it.
James added at the news conference, “It’s a day we prepare for. However, we pray it never does.
The start of the second week of the autumn semester on campus was on Monday. Tuesday’s classes have been canceled.
On Monday, Guskiewicz expressed regret to the children, telling them, “I’m sorry so many of you are feeling scared about your safety right now. Excellent protocols are in place. Nothing is more important than the safety of the people in our community and without a doubt, our instructors, staff and close to 30,000 kids are at the top of that list.
Guskiewicz reassured them, “We’re here for you.”I ask you to employ whatever means are necessary. We shall cooperate as a community to ensure your safety and the protection of everyone visiting our campus here in UNC-Chapel Hill.
Before the deadly shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill, only a few days had elapsed since a shooting took place on the campus of N.C. A&T University in Greensboro.
On Friday night, a physical fight outside the school student center descended into violence, sparking a campus gunfire that injured one person. Up to eight reports of gunshots were made to the police. Even though campus administrators and police claim students weren’t involved in the on-campus incident, chancellor Harold Martin said the institution is stepping up police patrols and enacting a new policy that allows officers to remove unwanted people off campus.
Before the deadly shooting at UNC-Chapel Hill, only a few days had elapsed since a shooting took place on the campus of N.C. A&T University in Greensboro.
On Friday night, a physical fight outside the school student center descended into violence, sparking a UNC-Chapel Hill campus gunfire that injured one person. Up to eight reports of gunshots were made to the police. Even though campus administrators and police claim students weren’t involved in the on-campus incident, chancellor Harold Martin said the institution is stepping up police patrols and enacting a new policy that allows officers to remove unwanted people off campus.