A University of North Carolina graduate student has been charged in the fatal shooting on Monday of a professor at the school's Chapel Hill campus, the university said on Tuesday.
Court records show Tailei Qi, age 34 according to media reports, was charged with first-degree murder and carrying a gun on an educational campus in the shooting of Zijie Yan, an associate professor in applied physical sciences at the school since 2019.
A university website showed Qi was a doctoral student who had joined Yan's research group in January 2022.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting in a campus lab on Monday afternoon. Reports of shots fired prompted an hours-long lockdown at the school, which has a student population of about 32,000, along with about 4,100 faculty and 9,000 staff members.
Public schools nearby also were locked down on their first day of class after summer break.
On Tuesday, the university said it had set up a hotline for students and faculty who needed to talk about the incident as well as those who need other counseling services.
"We know that the wounds of this tragedy will not heal quickly," Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in an email announcing Yan's death to the campus community.
He said the university would ring the campus bell tower and hold a moment of silence on Wednesday afternoon in Yan's honor.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
In Donald Trump's Recollection Of Shooting, Special Note For Secret Service Donald Trump's Bloodied, Defiant Image After Shooting Pumps Up His Voter Base Donald Trump Says Bullet Pierced Part Of Right Ear, Saved By Secret Service Under-Fire Trainee IAS Officer Accuses Pune Collector Of Harassment "No Defamatory Remarks Against Governor": High Court To Mamata Banerjee What Trump Rally Shooter Did On Last Day Of His Life Elon Musk To Move Companies Out Of California Over Transgender Law Four In Five Americans Fear Country Is Sliding Into Chaos: Polls Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Launched In India; Prices Start At Rs. 2.39 Lakh Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.