List of All Articles with Tag 'erica'

A graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been charged with the murder of a faculty member following the deadly shooting on Monday. Tailei Qi, a PhD student majoring in applied physical sciences major, was arrested and booked into Orange County Sheriff’s Office jail on a first-degree murder charge. He was ordered held without bond on Tuesday and is expected to reappear in court on 18 September. The faculty member killed in the shooting was identified by UNC officials as Zijie Yan, the head of the Department of Applied Sciences and Mr Qi’s academic adviser. The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Authorities said during Mr Qi’s court hearing that a 9mm was used in the shooting. “[Mr Yan] was a beloved colleague, mentor and friend to many on our campus. My leadership team and I have met with his colleagues and family to express our condolences on behalf of our campus,” UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M Guskiewicz said in a statement. “Please join me in thinking and praying for his family and loved ones during this difficult time.” The chancellor said students were “traumatised” following the shooting on Monday that prompted a three-hour lockdown. Read More UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim identified as associate professor Zijie Yan UNC shooting suspect’s social media complaints about murdered faculty member revealed A new college term, a faculty member killed and a student arrested: What we know about the UNC shooting

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio will be sentenced later today and faces the prospect of a record prison term among the legal cases brought after the insurrection at the US Capitol. Tarrio has been found guilty of seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases stemming from the 6 January 2021 riots, when supporters of Donald Trump attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. Tarrio is now among four members of the self-described “Western chauvinist” gang facing decades in prison after they were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy and other charges. The Justice Department is seeking 33 years in prison for Tarrio. So far the longest sentence related to Jan 6 has been given to Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, who was convicted in another case of seditious conspiracy and received a sentence of 18 years. In a sentencing memo, prosecutors said the men “organised and directed a force of nearly 200 to attack the heart of our democracy” and “intentionally positioned themselves at the vanguard of political violence in this country.” Read More Who is Enrique Tarrio? Ex-Proud Boys leader faces longest prison sentence yet for January 6 ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition Manhunt underway to find Proud Boy who was gone on run days before Jan 6 sentencing

Two days before a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol, the now-former leader of a neo-fascist gang was arrested in Washington DC shortly after stepping off a plane from Miami. Enrique Tarrio was wanted by police after he admitted to tearing down and burning a Black Lives Matter flag outside a historically Black church in the nation’s capital during December riots connected to a protest supporting then-President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. On 6 January, 2021, Tarrio watched the insurrection unfold from a hotel in Baltimore. Before his arrest two days earlier, Tarrio wrote to his lieutenant: “Whatever happens … make it a spectacle.” Tarrio is now among four members of the self-described “Western chauvinist” gang facing decades in prison after they were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy and other charges in connection with the mob’s assault. Tarrio’s verdict marked the first successful seditious conspiracy conviction against a January 6 defendant who was not physically at the Capitol that day. Federal prosecutors are now asking a judge to sentence convicted Proud Boys members to decades behind bars. Tarrio could face up to 33 years in prison, the longest sentence yet in connection with the attack. In a sentencing memo, prosecutors said the men “organized and directed a force of nearly 200 to attack the heart of our democracy” and “intentionally positioned themselves at the vanguard of political violence in this country.” “The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a ‘revolution.’ They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election,” prosecutors wrote. “They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.” During the trial, prosecutors presented hundreds of internal messages revealing the group’s toxic rhetoric and culture of violence depicting a gang “that came together to use force against its enemies” in the weeks leading up to January 6, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys were not merely obedient followers of the former president’s commands but were preparing for “all-out war” to undermine millions of Americans’ votes and upend a democratic election to preserve his presidency. Tarrio, as the leader of the gang, along with his four co-defendants, “directed, mobilized and led” a crowd of 200 supporters towards the Capitol on January 6, “leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building, and assaults on law enforcement,” then bragged about their actions on social media and in group chat messages that were later shared with jurors, according to prosecutors. Defence attorneys have placed the blame on the words and actions of then-President Trump, who directed his supporters to “fight like hell” the morning of the attack and – in a message from a debate stage heard loud and clear by members of the Proud Boys and their allies – “stand by.” “It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation,” Tarrio’s attorney Nayib Hassan told jurors in closing arguments. “It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J Trump and those in power.” Proud Boys emerged in cities across the US as a violent response to antifascists organizing in the wake of the 2016 election, exploiting white, right-wing male rage and relying on semi-ironic posturing and barroom culture to launder far-right, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT+ views. Tarrio, who assumed the role of group “chairman” in 2018, previously was a “prolific” cooperator with local and federal law enforcement agencies, according to court records and testimony from a former attorney. His own lawyer and an FBI investigator said Tarrio helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling between 2012 and 2014. Tarrio has denied his involvement. During a televised presidential debate on 29 September, 2020, debate moderator Chris Wallace repeatedly asked then-President Trump whether he would denounce white supremacism. Mr Trump asked for a name to reference. Joe Biden, standing on the opposite side of the stage, suggested the Proud Boys. “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Mr Trump said. “But I’ll tell you what somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem.” Almost immediately, Proud Boys members and their allies celebrated what they heard as a call to action. “Trump basically said to go f*** them up!” Tarrio’s future co-defendant Joe Biggs wrote on Parler at the time. “This makes me so happy.” Accounts also circulated a meme illustrating the president wearing a Fred Perry shirt – a part of the group’s unofficial uniform – and a peaked cap bearing the Proud Boys logo with the text “standing by for your orders general, sir.” Another image included an incorrect version of the president’s remarks that more acutely resembled a call to arms: “Proud Boys can stand back and stand by, because someone has to take care of antifa and these people.” “Although I am excited about our mention on the debate stage … I am not taking this as a direct endorsement from the President,” Tarrio wrote on Telegram. “Him telling the Proud Boys to stand back and standby is what we have ALWAYS done,” he added. On Parler, Tarrio said: “Standing by, sir.” Following Mr Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, Tarrio and hundreds of members of the Proud Boys and other far-right groups marched through Washington DC, where they set fire to a Black Lives Matter banner seized from historic Black church Asbury United Methodist. The group also attacked Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, another historic Black church. During his arrest after his arrival in Washington on 4 January, 2021, police found Tarrio was carrying two high-capacity magazines compatible with high-powered rifles. Both were empty. He faced a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property for burning the church’s sign and two subsequent felony charges for possessing a high-capacity feeding device. Tarrio had previously admitted in comments on Parler and on a Proud Boys-affiliated podcast that he was responsible for burning a church’s sign. “In the burning of the BLM sign, I was the one that lit it on fire,” he said. “I was the person that went ahead and put the lighter to it and engulfed it in flames, and I am damn proud that I did.” Later that year, he announced he was stepping down from his leadership role with the Proud Boys, as other members “start getting more involved in local politics, running our guys for office from local seats, whether it’s a simple GOP seat or a city council seat.” But in the wake of January 6, as the group decentralized, members have harassed drag queen story-telling events at libraries and amplified “groomer” smears aimed at LGBT+ people. The group has been central to a wave of attacks and threats against drag performers and the people and venues that host them, according to a recent report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Proud Boys chapters targeted 60 such events, with more than half resulting in physical and verbal clashes, the report found. In July 2021, as part of a plea agreement dropping the felony charges against him, Tarrio pleaded guilty to destruction of property and to a misdemeanor count of attempted possession of a high-capacity magazine. He was released in January 2022 after serving four months in jail. Five months later, a federal grand jury indicted Tarrio and four other men – Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl – for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack. US District Judge Timothy Kelly barred prosecutors from discussing Tarrio’s prior arrest during the Proud Boys trial, but jurors were exposed to dozens of messages revealing members’ hateful rhetoric and calls for violence in private messages and across social media platforms and in public statements – and in a video showing them burning the Black Lives Matter banner. In the weeks leading up to January 6, Tarrio had assembled a “Ministry of Self-Defense” with his co-defendants and Jeremy Bertino, a former Proud Boy who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and served as a key government witness at trial. Bertino’s testimony implicated Tarrio and the other men in a conspiracy to what he said was “anything that was necessary to save the country” – including breaking into the Capitol to block the certification of an American election. Days before the attack, Tarrio exchanged messages with another person who shared a plan called “1776 Returns” that included plans to occupy “crucial buildings” with “as many people as possible,” including the House and Senate. That person wrote that “revolution is [sic] important than anything,” to which Tarrio replied: “That’s what every waking moment consists of … I’m not playing games.” On January 6, Tarrio told followers on social media that day to “do what must be done” and, in a group chat with other Proud Boys members, “do it again.” “Make no mistake,” he wrote in another message. “We did this.” Enrique "Henry" Tarrio, 39, was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents. He was initially reluctant to join the Proud Boys until he was courted by members at a party for far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017; Tarrio was there working security. Tarrio rose through the ranks of the burgeoning neo-fascist gang, attending events for Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, rallying alongside members at 2017's so-called Unite the Right event in Charlottesville, Virginia that exploded into lethal violence, and broadening his Florida chapter into a national operation. "Before me – and they hate it when I say this – they were the Gavin McInnes fan club," he told the Miami New Times. "We weren't really political." In 2013, he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a healthcare fraud case involving diabetic test strips, then assisted federal prosecutors to identify a dozen other suspects, according to court records. He served one year and four months in prison. Read More ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition Trump news – live: Trump makes sinister threat to Democrats over indictments Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained When is Donald Trump going on trial? Here are all the court dates

A campus security guard at Edward Waters University, a historically Black college, is speaking out after being credited as a “hero” for confronting the Jacksonville gunman on campus. Lieutenant Antonio Bailey approached the vehicle of the suspected gunman on Saturday after several students alerted him to the young white man who was wearing a tactical vest, gloves and a hat when he arrived on the campus. Though the students did not see a weapon, they became suspicious leading Mr Bailey to approach the gunman’s vehicle. As soon as the gunman, identified as 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, saw Mr Bailey he sped away which led Mr Bailey to call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to report the vehicle. Zachary Faison, the president of Edward Waters University called Mr Bailey “our hero” for acting immediately. Mr Faison said that the gunman sped off campus when he saw Mr Bailey and hit a curb, narrowly avoiding a brick column. At a news conference on Monday, Mr Bailey said: “I’m no hero. If anything, it’s the students who alerted me so I could do my job.” Just minutes later, the gunman drove to a Dollar General store where he shot and killed three Black people: Angela Michelle Carr, 52, AJ Laguerre, 19, and Jerrald Gallion, 29. “It’s not just on a whim that he chose to come to Florida’s first historically Black college or university,” Mr Faison said. Directing his comments toward Mr Bailey, Mr Faison said: “Your actions are beyond commendable and they will resonate not just for today but for generations to come.” “We have attempted to create a culture of caring among our student body that champions, ‘See something, say something,’ And our students’ acceptance and integration of that culture into their university experience surely saved countless lives,” he added. Mr Bailey said he relied on his training to respond to the student’s concerns. Though he did not see a weapon on the gunman at the time, he felt strange about the incident. Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters said that investigators believe the shooter specifically targeted the store and that he does not believe Edward Waters University was the intended location for the rampage. Authorities said the gunman was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and Glock handgun fully prepared to carry out an attack on Black people. Mr Waters said a journal from the gunman was “the diary of a madman.” “I don’t understand his rhyme or reason for why he did what he did and the way that he did it,” Mr Waters said. “I know that for a fact he was targeting Black people. Russ Bynum and Valerie Gonzalez from The Associated Press contributed to this report Read More A white gunman killed three Black shoppers at Dollar General. Then police uncovered ‘the diary of a madman’ Why stormy weather this week could make or break Ron DeSantis A high school graduate, a devoted father and hardworking mother: The Jacksonville shooting victims

Police are investigating whether a Quebec father killed his two children, just two days after he was arrested for harassing the boys’ mother, his estranged wife. Ian Lamontagne, 46, and Antoine and Tristan, both 3, were found dead on Saturday in Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, a town in the Lanaudière region, according to CBC, and the coroner confirmed their identities on Monday. Police are reportedly investigating the case as a double murder-suicide, according to the outlet. Patrick Boucher, friend of the family, said Lamontagne called him to vent last Wednesday, fuming that he had been arrested in front of his children for harassing their mother, his wife. The pair had reportedly been separated for about a year. Mr Boucher says Lamontagne was released the same day of his arrest, which is just two days before he and his sons were found dead. “I wanted to see him because of the arrest and I wanted to make sure he was OK,” said Mr Boucher. Mr Boucher also told the Montreal Gazette that the deaths were a “horrible, unacceptable, unforgivable act.” He added and said he would like the discussion of the three deaths to “focus on how a human being who loves his children can go from ’I love my children’ to ’destroying my children’s lives.’” “How can we transform this event into something more?” Mr Boucher asked. “To learn how — how should I react to my other friends who tell me they’re having difficulties?” Notre-Dame-des-Prairies Mayor Suzanne Dauphin in a statement called the incident “ tragic and heartbreaking.” She also underscored the importance of seeking mental health help: “It is crucial that we break the taboo surrounding psychological distress and provide resources and support to those in need. If you or someone you know is struggling with dark thoughts, I encourage you to seek help.” She added, “As a society, we must also commit ourselves to preventing such occurrences in the future.” Read More UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member Teenage girl, 16, stabbed to death in fight over sweet and sour sauce at Washington DC McDonald’s Two best friends were murdered at 14. Nearly 50 years on, DNA finally caught their killer

Six inmates at the downtown St. Louis jail are facing charges related to the abduction last week of a 73-year-old jail guard. Charging documents released Monday by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office offered insight into how the guard was taken hostage around 6 a.m. on Aug. 22. He was freed by a police SWAT team more than two hours later and treated at a hospital for minor injuries. Two inmates jailed on first-degree murder charges, Eric Williams and Anthony Newberry, were outside their cells helping the guard deliver breakfast trays to other inmates, charging documents stated. Williams allegedly began punching the guard, knocking him to the ground. The document said Newberry joined in the attack and the men pulled the guard to a shower area. Newberry allegedly took the guard's cell keys and began unlocking “all the cells in the pod,” charging documents stated. Dozens of inmates left their cells. Inmates Paul Mondaine and Earnest Lyons moved the guard to a table inside the pod, where he was handcuffed and had his legs shackled, documents stated. Newberry and Richard Bolden III smashed televisions, and inmates used pieces taken from the TVs, along with broom and mop handles, to make weapons, according to the documents. Mondaine allegedly used one of the handmade weapons, held it near the guard, and told him, “I’ll cut your throat if they come in here.” SWAT officers were able to free the guard shortly after 8 a.m., more than two hours after the abduction began. The motive behind the abduction remains under investigation but Corrections Director Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah said at a news conference Aug. 22 that one inmate demanded pizza. Interim Public Safety Director Chris Coyle said “less-than-lethal ammunition” was used on the inmates, but he did not elaborate. Coyle said two inmates suffered minor injuries inflicted by other inmates during the hostage situation. Five of the inmates are charged with first-degree kidnapping: Williams, 20; Newberry, 29; Mondaine, 29; Lyons, 21; and Cleveland Washington Jr. 21. Bolden, Newberry and Washington are charged with damaging the jail. Williams and Newberry also face assault charges. Mondaine also is charged with unlawful use of a weapon. The inmates do not yet have listed attorneys, according to Missouri's online court records. All are being held without bond. The abduction was the latest of several acts of violence inside the jail, known as the City Justice Center, which holds nearly 700 inmates. Advocates for inmates have long complained about conditions at the jail. It was the site of three uprisings among inmates between late 2020 and early 2021. In February 2021, inmates set fires, caused flooding, broke out fourth-floor windows and tossed chairs and other items through the broken glass. A guard also was attacked. Inmates again broke windows and set a fire during another riot in April 2021. A month later, Dale Glass, the embattled director of the jail, resigned.

Denver will pay $4.7 million to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged that protesters were unjustly targeted for violating the city's curfew during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in 2020. City councilors unanimously agreed to the deal Monday without any debate. The lawsuit alleged that the city directed police to only enforce the emergency 8 p.m. curfew against protesters, violating their free speech rights, even though the curfew applied to all people in any public place. It also said that over 300 protesters were taken to jail in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic rather than just being issued tickets for violating the curfew. “The First Amendment does not allow police to clear the streets of protestors simply because they do not agree with their message,” the lead attorney for the protesters, Elizabeth Wang, said in a statement. The city denied having an official policy of using the curfew against protesters but decided that continuing the lawsuit and going to a trial would be “burdensome and expensive," according to the settlement. Last year, a federal jury ordered Denver to pay a total of $14 million in damages to a group of 12 protesters who claimed police used excessive force against them, violating their constitutional rights, during the demonstrations. The curfew deal is the latest in a series of settlements related to the 2020 protests over police killings of Floyd and other Black people. In March, the city council approved a total of $1.6 million in settlements to settle lawsuits brought by seven protesters who were injured, The Denver Post reported.

Elon Musk, the owner of X – formerly known as Twitter – was booed at a video game contest in Los Angeles. The audience at Valorant World Championship Final on Saturday did not seem to like Mr Musk’s takeover of the social media platform, which he then renamed. As soon as the cameras showed him, he was met with a cacophony of boos. Mr Musk was attending the tournament with one of his sons, Insider reported. A clip of the event has ironically garnered over 14m views on Mr Musk’s social media platform. “Where is that from? That can’t be from in here, surely,” one of the commentators said amid the booing after the camera aired a brief shot of the Tesla and SpaceX founder. Even after the camera returned to focus on the game play, the crowd continued to boo. Then people started chanting in unison: “Bring back Twitter!” People on X weighed in on what it means to elicit such a reaction at a video game tournament. One X user wrote: “Getting booed by Valorant players is like getting wedgies by the anime club in middle school.” Another user remarked, “Lol we want a new logo,” seemingly blasting the black “X” that replaced the blue bird as the platform’s logo. Yet another said that the boos weren’t that bad: “That was actually a very sweet chant compared to all the other things they could of chanted.” The X owner has faced consistent criticism over the changes he has made to the popular and influential social media platform since his takeover last year. On top of unhappiness over the policy changes, Mr Musk was also blasted over his decision to rebrand the site from the household name Twitter to a simple X. Last month, a giant “X” sign appeared above the company’s headquarters in San Francisco, sparking an investigation; the sign has since been taken down. This wasn’t the first harsh rebuke Mr Musk faced last week; the Justice Department sued his company, SpaceX, accusing it of hiring discrimination. Read More Elon Musk’s SpaceX sued over allegations of hiring discrimination Elon Musk’s X took two days to remove account where Laura Carleton’s killer spewed anti-LGBT+ hate Musk admits X may be doomed to fail as new glitch wipes out pictures from former Twitter platform Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faces Black leaders' anger after racist killings in Jacksonville Trump misleadingly claims 250 million viewers watched his Tucker Carlson interview Trump insists ‘I LOVE TRUTH SOCIAL’ after making return to Twitter with mug shot

A University of North Carolina PhD student shared several posts on social media complaining about his academic adviser before allegedly shooting him dead in the science lab and plunging the Chapel Hill campus into lockdown. Tailei Qi, a 34-year-old graduate student majoring in applied physical sciences, was arrested on Monday and charged with first-degree murder in the killing of faculty member Dr Zijie Yan. The motive for the shooting remains unclear but his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, reveals he had complained grumbled about his head of lab in the lead-up to the shooting. In other posts, he also railed against hard work, aired his grievances with some “girls and tattletales” and complained about bullies in the US. “Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time,” he wrote in one bizarre post in August 2022, reviewed by The Independent. “Explanation is not a solution but makes them feel others will plead them every time they raise a problem, making them voyeur to find an excuse day and night.” Two weeks later on 18 August 2022, he tweeted about his “PI” – an abbreviation for his head of lab – handling “these girls and tattletales”. “Just have a talk with my PI and get his promise. He should have more experience to handle with these girls and tattletales,” he wrote. “Then, we can just get ourselves out of these stupid topic. Let’s just focus our attention on nature.I won’t change anything if not necessary.” Two months later in October 2022, he referred to his PI again and an unidentified “group of people”. “Both the group of people to say I am lazy and that to prove me working hard instead of telling me that are trying to consume my privacy. I judge their motivation is only to tell my PI then control me by taletelling,” he tweeted. “But it’s weird when I talked about it with my PI, he said no people spoke to him about that. so it’s nothing but some voyeurism for these people?” Yan headed up the Department of Applied Physical Sciences and physical chemistry group the Yan Research Group, which Mr Qi joined when he began his graduate program at UNC in 2022. In other online posts, Mr Qi addressed a mystery woman who he vowed to “just let her go” and his exhaustion with his workload. “I used to walk [sic] 80+ hours per week and I feel relaxing and energetic. Now I only work 60+ hours per week and I feel tired,” he wrote in one. In a post in July 2022 – before he is believed to have started at UNC that fall – he posted a cryptic message calling his treatment by an unnamed boss “disgusting”. “Just feel my privacy was insulted. When I work, I will think I was showing the boss I am working instead of interests, devaluing the meaning of my work,” he wrote. “That’s so disgusting. Self-respect block me from working. Then it takes pains to convince myself what I do is just because I like.” In another post that same month, he wrote that “only work with no play makes Jim a dull boy”. In one of his most recent posts in early August 2023 – just weeks before the shooting – Mr Qi issued an appeal to meet people at the college. “I would like to make some new friends. I am a second-year PhD student, interested in nanoparticle synthesis, optical trapping, self-assembly, spectra analysis, and ML,” he said. “a bit stupid in daily trifles, very enthusiastic talking about research. Reach me if inerest.” The Twitter account has the same name and the same image as both Mr Qi’s bio and the person of interest sent out by police during the brief manhunt. It describes him as “Graduate student @UNC, engaged in light-matter interaction and related materials”. Mr Qi previously studied at Wuhan University before moving to the US from China and studying at Louisiana State University. He joined the Yan Research Group at UNC in 2022. At around 1pm on Monday afternoon – just days into the new term of the second year of his PhD studies – Mr Qi allegedly entered the science lab at the UNC’s Chapel Hill campus and shot and killed Yan. Law enforcement arrived on the scene around two minutes later and the campus was plunged into lockdown, with officials warning that “an armed and dangerous person” was at large. The wrong person was briefly arrested after the unsuspecting individual missed the shelter-in-place alerts. Soon after, the UNC Police released an image of Mr Qi, calling him a person of interest and warning the public that “if you see this person, keep your distance, put your safety first and call 911”. Around three hours on from the shooting, police confirmed that a suspect had been arrested near a residential area 10 minutes away from campus and the lockdown was lifted. The gun is yet to be recovered, police said. The motive for the attack remains unknown at this time. “To actually have the suspect in custody gives us an opportunity to figure out the why and even the how, and also helps us to uncover a motive and really just why this happened today. Why today, why at all?” UNC Police Chief Brian James said in a press conference on Monday. “And 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.” Read More UNC shooting – latest: Motive remains unknown after shooter kills faculty member in Chapel Hill He moaned about work, ‘bullies’ and his head of lab online. Then police say he shot dead a UNC faculty member A new college term, a faculty member killed and a student arrested: What we know about the UNC shooting

Authorities have identified the fatal victim in Monday’s shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC PhD student Tailei Qi, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences and a researcher. Mr Yan was listed as his alleged killer’s academic advisor on Mr Qi’s UNC profile, which has since been removed from the university’s website. Yan joined UNC in 2019. Before that, he was an assistant professor at Clarkson University in New York following a postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. Mr Qi and Yan co-authored several research papers, the latter having been published just last month. But on tweets from an account believed to belong to Mr Qi, the alleged shooter complained about “bullies and his “PI” – referring to his unnamed head of lab – being unable to handle “these girls and tattletales”. “Just have a talk with my PI and get his promise. He should have more experience to handle with these girls and tattletales,” he wrote. Two months later in October, he referred to his PI again: “Both the group of people to say I am lazy and that to prove me working hard instead of telling me that are trying to consume my privacy. I judge their motivation is only to tell my PI then control me by taletelling.” “But it’s weird when I talked about it with my PI, he said no people spoke to him about that. so it’s nothing but some voyeurism for these people?” Yan studied undergrad at the Hauzhong University of Science and Technology, where he obtained his bachelor’s in material science and engineering and computer science in 2005, the NC Newsline reports. The university is located in the same province where Mr Qi studied at Wuhan University until his graduation in 2015. This is a developing story ... check again for updates. Read More UNC shooting – latest: Graduate student charged with murder of faculty member on Chapel Hill campus He moaned about work, ‘bullies’ and his head of lab online. Then police say he shot dead a UNC faculty member UNC shooting suspect’s social media complaints about murdered faculty member revealed

Tailei Qi shared several cryptic posts online after joining the University of North Carolina in 2022. The well-educated graduate student – who previously studied at both Wuhan University and Louisiana State University – complained about bullies, aired his grievances with some “girls and tattletales” and grumbled that his head of lab should have more experience to deal with his issues. “Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time,” he wrote in one bizarre post in August 2022. But – despite the complaints – the messages could not prepare anyone for the horror of what happened next. On the afternoon of Monday 28 August 2023 – just days into the new term of the second year of his PhD studies – Mr Qi allegedly entered the science lab at the UNC’s Chapel Hill campus armed with a firearm. Inside the lab where he carried out his studies, he shot and killed a faculty member, police said. The campus was plunged into lockdown before Mr Qi was arrested at a home just 10 minutes from the lab around three hours later. The motive for the attack remains unknown at this time and the victim’s identity has not been publicly released. “To actually have the suspect in custody gives us an opportunity to figure out the why and even the how, and also helps us to uncover a motive and really just why this happened today. Why today, why at all?” UNC Police Chief Brian James said in a press conference on Monday. “And 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.” The suspect The suspect was identified on Tuesday as Tailei Qi, a graduate student who joined the Yan Lab of the college in 2022. Based on his online bio at the UNC, he studied under Dr Zijie Yan – the leader of the physical chemistry group the Yan Research Group and head of the Department of Applied Physical Sciences. Before joining UNC, Mr Qi previously studied material science at Louisiana State University and physics at Wuhan University. A Twitter account believed to belong to Mr Qi reveals that he had railed against his work and his head of lab as well as what he described as “bullies” in the US before allegedly carrying out the mass shooting. In a post on 1 August 2022, he wrote: “Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time. “Explanation is not a solution but makes them feel others will plead them every time they raise a problem, making them voyeur to find an excuse day and night.” Two weeks later on 18 August 2022, he tweeted about his “PI” – referring to his unnamed head of lab – handling “these girls and tattletales”. “Just have a talk with my PI and get his promise. He should have more experience to handle with these girls and tattletales,” he wrote. “Then, we can just get ourselves out of these stupid topic. Let’s just focus our attention on nature.I won’t change anything if not necessary.” Two months later in October, he referred to his PI again and an unidentified “group of people”. “Both the group of people to say I am lazy and that to prove me working hard instead of telling me that are trying to consume my privacy. I judge their motivation is only to tell my PI then control me by taletelling,” he tweeted. “But it’s weird when I talked about it with my PI, he said no people spoke to him about that. so it’s nothing but some voyeurism for these people?” In other posts, Mr Qi addressed a mystery woman who he vowed to “just let her go” and his exhaustion with his workload. “I used to walk 80+ hours per week and I feel relaxing and energetic. Now I only work 60+ hours per week and I feel tired,” he wrote in one. In a post in July 2022 – before he is believed to have started at UNC that fall – he posted a cryptic message calling his treatment by an unnamed boss “disgusting”. “Just feel my privacy was insulted. When I work, I will think I was showing the boss I am working instead of interests, devaluing the meaning of my work,” he wrote. “That’s so disgusting. Self-respect block me from working. Then it takes pains to convince myself what I do is just because I like.” In another post that same month, he wrote that “only work with no play makes Jim a dull boy”. The Twitter account has the same name and the same image as both Mr Qi’s bio and the person of interest sent out by police during the brief manhunt. It describes him as “Graduate student @UNC, engaged in light-matter interaction and related materials”. In one post in early August – just weeks before the shooting – he issued an appeal to meet people at the college. “I would like to make some new friends. I am a second-year PhD student, interested in nanoparticle synthesis, optical trapping, self-assembly, spectra analysis, and ML,” he said. “a bit stupid in daily trifles, very enthusiastic talking about research. Reach me if inerest.” The shooting The shooting unfolded at around 1pm local time on Monday when UNC Police responded to a 911 call reporting gunfire at the science lab in the heart of the campus. Law enforcement arrived on the scene around two minutes after the call came in and found a faculty member shot dead inside the science lab building. The campus was plunged into lockdown, with officials warning that “an armed and dangerous person” was at large. The wrong person was briefly arrested after the unsuspecting individual missed the shelter-in-place alerts. Soon after, the UNC Police released an image of Mr Qi, calling him a person of interest and warning the public that “if you see this person, keep your distance, put your safety first and call 911”. Chilling footage shows terrified students and staff members barricaded inside classrooms and offices for fear that an active shooter was at large. Around three hours on from the shooting, police confirmed that a suspect had been arrested near a residential area 10 minutes away from campus. The gun is yet to be recovered, police said. The lockdown was eventually lifted at around 4.15pm. The victim’s identity is yet to be released, pending next of kin being notified. UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M Guskiewicz said in a statement that a hotline and other mental health resources were on offer for staff and students affected by the shooting. “The students are certainly traumatised,” he said. “But I want to commend those who were inside the building ensuring everyone’s safety.” Classes have been canceled through Tuesday following the deadly shooting. “Due to today’s incident on campus, UNC-Chapel Hill will operate at a Condition 2 on Tuesday, Aug. 29. This means that classes are canceled, and non-mandatory operations are suspended,” the UNC said in an update. The shooting came just days into the start of the new term. Harrowingly, the horror was a somewhat familiar sight for the UNC community coming four years after a mass shooting at the Charlotte campus left two dead and four injured. Back on 30 April 2019 – onthe last day of the spring semester classes – two people were killed and four injured in a mass shooting inside a classroom in the Woodford A. Kennedy Building. The gunman – identified as former UNCC student Trystan Andrew Terrell – was arrested soon after. In September 2019, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced life without the possibility of parole. Read More UNC shooting – latest: Motive remains unknown after shooter kills faculty member in Chapel Hill A new college term, a faculty member killed and a suspect arrested: What we know about the UNC shooting UNC faculty member confirmed dead as active shooter shuts down Chapel Hill school

Heartwrenching videos show students hiding under desks and jumping from classroom windows during an active shooter situation the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The campus was placed on lockdown for several hours on Monday afternoon after an alert went out about an “armed person”. Police later confirmed one member of the faculty was killed and a suspect, identified as graduate student Tailei Qi, was taken into custody. The motive for the shooting, which took place at the centre of the campus in one of the science buildings, remains unclear. Throughout much of the active situation, those under the “shelter in place” order did not have any idea what was going on. Videos posted to social media captured sirens wailing as students and faculty barricaded themselves in dorms, bathrooms, classrooms, and gyms across the sprawling grounds. The shelter in place alert was posted just after 1pm, with sirens emitted within two minutes. Officers found the faculty member, who has not been identified, fatally shot in the lab building, UNC Police Chief Brian James told a press conference. The suspect was apprehended about 90 minutes after the initial report of gunfire but the lockdown persisted as authorities searched for the weapon, officials told a press at a briefing. The arrest took place in a residential area close to the campus, according to local TV station WRAL. The lockdown was lifted at about 4.15pm. It is unclear if the suspect and victim knew each other. Chief James said: “To actually have the suspect in custody gives us an opportunity to figure out the why and even the how, and also helps us to uncover a motive and really just why this happened today. Why today, why at all?” “And 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,” he added. Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said: “This loss is devastating, and the shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community.” Graduate student Clayton Ulm, 23, said he was in a class with about 50 to 70 others when the lockdown went into action. The alarm went off and screens in the room also announced the order to shelter in place. “Then there was quite a bit of panic as students were trying to figure out what to do,” Mr Ulm wrote on LinkedIn after three hours of the lockdown, according to the AP. “Then we all started hiding beneath our chairs and under desks. Some students went and locked the doors.” Mr Ulm added that students began listening to police scanners to find out where the shooter was located with the sense of panic eventually subsiding and students could use the restrooms near them. It was “surreal seeing the mass panic,” Mr Ulm said. “We are looking for a firearm. It is too early to determine if the firearm was legally obtained,” Chief James said. The shooting came just a week after the start of classes at the first public university in the US. Tuesday’s classes were cancelled for the school’s 20,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate students. Northern Virginia freshman Rushil Umaretiya held a candle outside the lab building on Monday night with two of his friends, just two weeks after he moved to Chapel Hill. “In my family, whenever someone passes, we light a candle, so I thought I’d come out and pay some respect to the community I’m trying to join,” he told the AP. “It’s a scary time for a lot of people, like I have a lot of history with loss, so I think it’s just fear and a lot of mixed emotions.” Mr Ulm moved from Oklahoma to Chapel Hill a couple of months ago. He told the news agency that his mother called him as the students were sheltering in place. She was “crying profusely,” he said. “I knew I should’ve texted you yesterday, I was so worried... this was my greatest fear,” she told him. Read More UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member UNC shooting – latest: Graduate student charged with murder of faculty member on Chapel Hill campus