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'It's your first, first day of school and you're on lockdown!': How the UNC-Chapel Hill shooting impacted local public schools

From 'Secure Mode' to a dismissal that was hours later than normal and a bus schedule that caused more delays.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The shooting may have happened on UNC’s campus, but it impacted other schools in the area. 

The university is right in the middle of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District. It was the first day of school for the district and a shooter from UNC was on the run. 

The school district sent out an alert immediately after the UNC alert, the main message was to stay inside. Then the posts called for “secure mode” in all schools and offices, meaning all doors are locked and no one is allowed to enter or leave.

The lockdown at UNC meant elementary schools at the city schools would not dismiss on time on day one. 

"Can you imagine that being your introduction to school? You have been at home with your parents, maybe you were nervous to go to school and then all of a sudden, you're hearing alarms and ducking under a desk. That's our country now, that's unfortunate,” said Charity Watkins, Ph.D., NCCU faculty member.

The lockdown at UNC meant that kids in K through 12 would have a major delay in getting home on the bus because all the routes were compressed. The ripple effect of the college campus shooting was felt by thousands of other students, faculty, and parents. 

THE UNC SHOOTING. WHAT WE KNOW NOW:

The man accused of shooting and killing a UNC-Chapel Hill professor appeared in court Tuesday where he was given no bond by the judge. 

Investigators said Tailei Qi, 34, took a 9mm handgun to campus on Monday and gunned down his professor, Zijie Yan, inside Caudill Laboratories. The shooting sent the campus into lockdown for several hours as law enforcement searched for a suspect. UNC Chief of Police Brian James said the suspect allegedly fled Caudill Labs shortly after the incident. 

Chief James said Caudill Labs was occupied at the time of the shooting. The building has since been closed for investigation.

Chief James said he believed Qi drove to campus before the shooting. Police said he was arrested as eyewitnesses reported him walking on Williams Circle around 2:30 p.m. 

Qi is facing the following felonies: 

  • First-degree murder 
  • Bringing a gun onto educational property 

The district attorney said Qi is a citizen of China and is here on a visa. 

    

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