UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect the names of the victim and suspect, which UNC released on Tuesday morning.


A UNC faculty member died from gunshot wounds, according to university authorities, during a shooting on Monday in a lab building at the heart of campus.

UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and campus Chief of Police Brian James held a press conference Monday evening to share updates on the incident that left campus on lockdown for hours.

UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz speaks to the media at the Carolina Inn for a press conference following Monday’s shooting and campus lockdown. (Photo via UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Both Guskiewicz and James confirmed that one person died from the shooting, with James saying no other injuries were reported. The victim was revealed on Tuesday as Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the UNC’s Department of Applied Physical Sciences. Yan had worked at the university since 2019, previously teaching at Clarkson University in New York.

The suspect in the case was also formally named on Tuesday: Tailei Qi, a graduate student and research assistant in the same department as Yan. He arrived in Chapel Hill in early 2022 after earning a master’s degree from Louisiana State University. On Monday, UNC Police shared a photo of an unnamed person of interest connected to the shooting which matched one of Qi shared on his department’s website and Qi’s LinkedIn profile.

The campus’ lockdown began shortly after 1 p.m., which is around when James said UNC Police received a 911 call about shots fired at Caudill Labs on South Road. Two minutes later, the university sent its first Alert Carolina message to UNC students, faculty, and staff and the campus emergency sirens were set off. Those on campus were told to go inside, stay away from windows, and shelter in place because of an “armed and dangerous person.” The messages did not indicate any specific area of campus to avoid, although messages on the Orange County EMS scanners indicated South Road was shut down to Raleigh Street for police response during the 1 p.m. hour. Social media posts and news broadcasts from the UNC campus showed a heavy police presence too.

“Upon arrival at Caudill Labs,” said James, “police discovered one individual — a faculty member — had been shot. Unfortunately, as we have reported, this person is deceased.”

James said while the suspect was not initially found by responding officers, witness testimony and descriptions at the scene helped investigators identify their person of interest. He said the suspect was ultimately taken into custody at 2:31 p.m. “in the surrounding area.” While the police chief did not give the address of where the arrest happened, WRAL reported the suspect being detained at Williams Circle — a residential street off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and north of UNC campus.

James confirmed that the remaining 90 minutes of lockdown for the UNC campus was related to responding officers confirming the suspect’s identity and searching Caudill Labs for the weapon used in the shooting. As of Monday’s press conference, that firearm had not been found, according to James.

UNC Police Chief Brian James shares details on the campus police department’s response to the shooter on August 28. 2023. (Photo via UNC-Chapel Hill.)

When asked by press about capturing the suspect alive, the UNC Police Chief said his investigators “certainly want an opportunity to interview the suspect” to better undercover the motive behind Monday’s killing — and to better prepare campus safety efforts.

“To actually have the suspect in custody, it gives up the opportunity to figure out the ‘why’ and even the ‘how,'” James said. “Why today, why at all? We want to learn from this incident, and we will certainly work to do our best to ensure that this never happens again on the UNC campus. I think that information we could glean from the suspect is very important as we move forward.”

One person was initially detained in the area, which was reported over emergency responder scanners as a suspect and which James confirmed on Monday evening. He said the person was stopped and cuffed by officers because they fit the description of the person of interest and was in the area. But police quickly released the person and UNC authorities continued to report a suspect was still at large. In the following hours, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he was in touch with the local authorities and all state resources needed to “capture the shooter and protect the UNC campus” would be sent to Chapel Hill. The governor added, “This is a tragic way to start a new semester and the state will provide any assistance necessary to support the UNC community.”

On campus, students shared posts on social media about largely staying within buildings and locking doors until the “all clear” message was issued at 4:14 p.m. Some students around campus were evacuated prior to that, according to campus footage from other new outlets. UNC’s all-clear alert also urged people to continue avoiding Caudill Labs on South Road.

The chancellor offered his apologies to the student body and all who “feel uncertain about your safety right now.”

“There’s nothing more important on our campus,” said Guskiewicz, “than the safety and wellbeing of our community members — certainly our nearly 30,000 students are at the top of that list, as well as our faculty and staff. 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 [that] of anyone who visits our campus here in Chapel Hill.”

The UNC campus similarly underwent lockdowns in October 2020 and in December 2015 over reports of an armed individual, with each of those instances ultimately being cleared with no threat to the campus community. The 2015 incident stemmed from someone seeing an ROTC student bring their rifle into the ROTC building and mistaking them for a shooter. The 2020 incident occurred when a 911 caller reported a man with a long gun entered UNC Hospital’s Ambulatory Care Center, which is the southern-most part of campus. Responding officers ultimately found no gunman or sign of a weapon in the area.

Classes began for students in the 2023-24 academic year last Monday, August 21. UNC cancelled classes for the rest of Monday, as well as Tuesday, as a result of the shooting.

The university shared that it will be opening a hotline at 8 a.m. Tuesday for “concerned parents, loved ones and community members who have questions” about the incident and UNC’s response. The number to call is 919-918-1999.

Additionally, UNC’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will be taking students in a walk-in basis at several locations on Tuesday. The CAPS 24-hour hotline is also available at 919-966-3658.


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