UNC faculty member fatally shot, allegedly by grad student

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty member was shot and killed on campus Monday, according to a statement from Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz. Police arrested the alleged shooter, whom local media organizations identified as a UNC graduate student after matching his photo with institutional records.

The professor was not immediately identified, pending notification of family members.

Police received a 911 call about shots fired at Caudill Laboratories, which houses the chemistry department and is located near the center of campus, shortly after 1 p.m. They issued a shelter-in-place order, leading students to barricade themselves in dorms, classrooms and other campus facilities. Some students were seen jumping out of a second-story window.

Police found the deceased victim and apprehended the alleged shooter at about 2:30. They have not named the suspect, as he has not yet been formally charged.

According to Brian James, chief of UNC police, the campus remained on lockdown even after the suspect was arrested because officials were searching for the weapon and wanted to make certain the area was safe.

They issued the all-clear at 4:14 p.m. Caudill Labs remains off-limits as police continue to investigate the incident. As of Monday night, they had not yet recovered the weapon or revealed a motive for the murder.

One local TV station reported that the suspect was a second-year doctoral student in applied physical sciences and a member of the Yan Research Group. His relationship to the slain professor was unclear.

“This loss is devastating, and the shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community,” Guskiewicz said in a press briefing. “We will work to rebuild that sense of trust and safety within our community, and our hearts are with the family of our fellow faculty member, those who are personally connected to the victim and those traumatized by this senseless act of violence.”

Classes were canceled Monday and Tuesday, along with all “non-mandatory operations.”