Zijie Yan, UNC-Chapel Hill associate professor who died in an on-campus shooting on Aug. 28.Photo:UNC Chapel Hill
UNC Chapel Hill
A UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student has been charged with first-degree murder inthe fatal shootingof an associate professor inside one of the North Carolina campus’s science labs on Monday, UNC Police said in a statement provided to PEOPLE.
Tailei Qi, 34, was charged in the killing of Zijie Yan, an associate professor at UNC’s Department of Applied Physical Sciences. TheAssociated Pressreported that Qi will remain jailed without bond, and will next make a court appearance on Sept. 18. His public defender Dana Graves has not issued a public statement on Qi’s behalf and did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Qi was a graduate student in the same department and Yan was his faculty adviser, according to Qi’s UNC biographical page, which has since been deleted,theNew York Timesreported.
Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz said in a previouspress briefingthat the incident at Caudill Laboratories had left one of UNC’s faculty members dead, before the school publicly identified Yan.
Tailei Qi in court in North Carolina on Aug. 29.Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty
Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty
On Monday, UNC Policeissued an alertstating that there was an “armed and dangerous person on or near campus” at 1:03 p.m. local time, causing a campus lockdown.
According to Chief of Police Brian James, Qi was apprehended at 2:31 p.m. local time. The university thensent out an all-clear noticeat 4:14 p.m. and lifted its shelter-in-place order at 4:26 p.m.
James said during the press briefing that Caudill Laboratories will remain closed until further notice “as evidence is being processed” while the investigation continues.
In a statement about the loss of their fellow Tar Heel, Chancellor Guskiewicz said the UNC campus is grieving. “The wounds of this tragedy will not heal quickly,” he said. “[Yan] was a beloved colleague, mentor and friend to many on our campus.”
The campus’s historic Bell Tower rang at 1:02 p.m. EST on Wednesday in honor of Yan’s memory, Guskiewicz said. A makeshift memorial was formed at the base of the tower, where people brought flowers, handwritten letters, origami art and even a molecular model to honor Yan.
UNC is also hosting a a candlelight vigil in honor of Yan on Polk Place at 7:30 p.m. local time on Aug. 30. “As we return to classes and activities tomorrow, it is important that we take time to mark the impact of this shooting, which has shaken the trust and safety of our campus,” theevent notice said. “Tonight’s vigil is a chance to gather, listen to each other and grieve during this difficult time. I encourage each one of you to join us as we recognize the loss in our community.”
Tributes also poured in yesterday from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where Yan had studied, and from Tulane University, where Doug Chrisey, his former advisor, recalled publishing 17 papers with Yan, according totheNews & Observer.
“He would knock on my door with incredible experimental results and a huge smile,” Chrisey told the newspaper. “He would leave feeling he didn’t understand anything about the nucleation and growth of nanoparticles, but still with a huge smile.”
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“He had a resting sweet face — and everything about his personality was consistent with that,” Chrisey said.
source: people.com
