UNC put lockdown after reports of ‘armed and dangerous’ person at Chapel Hill campus: Live updates

The latest lockdown came just 24 hours after UNC students protested state gun laws at the State House in nearby Raleigh, chanting “Vote Them Out” towards the politicians present.

Just last month, Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, was gunned down on the Chapel Hill campus.

The University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill campus was put on a complete lockdown today until 5pm following reports of an “armed and dangerous person”.

From 5pm to midnight, the university said it would operate at a condition 2 status with classes cancelled and all non-mandatory operations suspended.

Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences and a researcher, was shot and killed last month on campus sparking an hours-long lockdown.

Mr Yan was listed as the academic adviser to alleged killer UNC PhD student Tailei Qi, 34, who was arrested in the shooting.

Before joining UNC in 2019, Mr Yan was an assistant professor at Clarkson University in New York and received postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. The slain professor left behind two young daughters.

He was shot at Caudill Laboratory which is roughly a quarter-mile from the student union that houses Alpine Bagel Cafe where police have zeroed in on in the incident on Wednesday. Students were seen running from the student union, WRAL reported.

“It’s sad and alarming that there have been two lockdowns over the past 16 days on our campus,” UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz told reporters. “We’ve had to apprehend individuals that have violated the safety of our community.”

UNC Police Chief Brian James said authorities did not know Harris’s motive and were reviewing footage of the incident at a bagel store at the student union.

“We are exploring what their relationship was,” Chief James said of the suspect’s connection with the former Alpine Bagel Shop employee. “We believe there was some type of connection.”

UNC will cancel all classes for Wednesday, 13 September, according to an email sent to the university’s faculty, reported The Daily Tar Heel.

Police have taken one person into custody on Formosa Lane in Chapel Hill, north of the UNC campus, reported WRAL.

Police are on the lookout for a suspect involved in an incident at Alpine Bagel at the UNC Student Union after a person was seen with a firearm, according to WRAL.

Sources told the TV station that no shots have been fired.

Video from the scene showed law enforcement vehicles parked near the student union near the intersection of Stadium Drive and South Road, and audio of the sirens going off across the campus were posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

All Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools have been advised to enter “Secure Mode” due to reports of an armed and dangerous person on or near the UNC campus.

This means the doors will be locked, people are not allowed in or out, and classroom instruction can continue normally inside, according to a tweet.

“Stay close to your phone & email for updates as we monitor this new & ongoing situation,” it advised.