Editor’s Note: This story contains details that some readers may consider graphic or disturbing.
“Close the doors and stay inside! There’s an active shooter!”
The 911 call reporting gunshots and the presence of an armed person at Caudill Laboratories on UNC campus came shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday. In the partially-redacted audio shared by UNC through a public records request, a person is heard telling others in the building to quickly shelter in place.
“Please get this message out, there’s an active shooter,” the caller says. “[We] need an ambulance in Caudill now.”
The call was what led UNC Police to rush to the lab building on South Road and ultimately began the investigation into the fatal shooting of associate professor Zijie Yan. The incident led to an hours-long lockdown for the campus community, who received emergency updates through the Alert Carolina system and news outlets. Ultimately, the shelter-in-place edict lasted more than three hours and around 90 minutes after a suspect was taken into custody.
About one minute into the four-and-a-half minute audio, the 911 dispatcher asks for the caller to describe the suspect.
“I know exactly who it is,” the caller responds. “I know who the student is. His name is Tailei Qi, and he has a gun. He’s on campus.”
The caller then tells the 911 dispatcher that they witnessed Qi leaving the building, supposedly through the main entrance of Caudill Labs — which is where Yan largely worked. They also describe him having a “short gun” instead of a firearm with a longer barrel. During the call, the 911 dispatcher tells those in the building to not open the door to their room unless it is a police officer.
Listen to the partially-redacted 911 audio here:
UNC Police Chief Brian James said during a press conference on Tuesday that Qi was not found by responding officers a few minutes after the initial 911 call. The graduate student was arrested by police at 2:31 p.m. two miles north of Caudill Labs along Williams Circle, a residential road. James said during media briefings that the gap between Qi’s detainment and issuing an all-clear message was to ensure police had arrested the correct suspect and to have first responders clear the laboratory building from any potential threats.
During their 911 conversation, the caller points the 911 dispatcher and investigators to the Applied Physical Sciences department website to find a photo of Qi. That same photo was distributed by UNC Police at 2:35 p.m., not naming Qi and calling him a “person of interest in today’s armed and dangerous person situation.” Police did not formally reveal the graduate student as its suspect until charges were made during the early morning hours on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old Qi is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a weapon on educational property, both of which are felony charges. The graduate student, who has been at UNC since 2022, made his first appearance in court on Tuesday and Orange County District Attorney Jeff Nieman said the case is expected to be taken to a grand jury next week.
Yan, who was Qi’s academic advisor, had worked with UNC’s Applied Physical Sciences department since 2019 and was the father of two daughters. The university honored the killed faculty member by ringing its bell tower in his memory and holding a candlelight vigil on Wednesday.
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