UNC-Chapel Hill faculty murder: Who is suspect Tailei Qi?

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A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate student, Tailei Qi, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with a shooting on the school’s campus Monday.

The shooting incident that left an unidentified faculty member dead prompted a lockdown around 1 p.m. in UNC-Chapel Hill school buildings as students began their first week of classes.

“This loss is devastating, and this shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community,” UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said during a press conference Monday. “We will work to rebuild that sense of trust and safety.”

Authorities did not say if the faculty member was specifically targeted and have not revealed a motive behind the killing. No other injuries were reported. Qi was studying at UNC’s Department of Applied Physical Sciences, according to the school’s website.

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UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with a shooting on the school’s campus Monday. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)

Authorities said shots were fired around 1 p.m. at Caudill Laboratories on the sprawling campus. Qi was taken into police custody around 2:31 p.m. 

In posts from Qi’s apparent social media pages, he sought “new friends” and complained about hard work.

The person of interest identified as Tailei Qi was studying at UNC’s Department of Applied Physical Sciences, according to the school’s website. (UNC Police)

“[W]ould like to make some new friends,” he wrote in a July tweet. “I am a second-year PhD student, interested in nanoparticle synthesis, optical trapping, self-assembly, spectra analysis, and ML. [A] bit stupid in daily trifles, very enthusiastic talking about research.”

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In a June post, he complained about “many counter-intuitive situation[s] in society,” stating that “minimum wage do more harm [sic] to instead to protect the poor; gender quota is not to protect women but to enhance the discrimination.”

“[W]ould like to make some new friends,” Tailei Qi wrote in a July post. “I am a second-year PhD student, interested in nanoparticle synthesis, optical trapping, self-assembly, spectra analysis, and ML. [A] bit stupid in daily trifles, very enthusiastic talking about research.” (Twitter)

In May, he posted, “For a Phd student, pay much attention to working time every day is really childish…I know many people want to me to show them working and working, but no…that’s not human at all.”

Last year, he posted that he was walking less every day and feeling more “tired.”

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“Just because I spend too much time to persuade myself that I work just out of interests instead of to show others I am working,” he said. In yet another bizarre tweet from last year, he complained about “people” saying he is “lazy and that to prove me working hard [sic].”

Two police officers move around a building on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, after a report of an “armed and dangerous person” on campus. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)

Qi apparently attended Wuhan University in China prior to attending Louisiana State University, where he received his master’s degree in science before heading to the nation’s oldest state university in Chapel Hill, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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One student who spoke with Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity Monday said he ran outside a large lecture hall after getting an alert about an armed and dangerous person on campus and “saw people running in the direction of the Genome Science building.”

Tailei Qi apparently attended Wuhan University in China prior to attending Louisiana State University, where he received his master’s degree in science before heading to the nation’s oldest state university in Chapel Hill, according to his LinkedIn profile. (LinkedIn)

“I decided to take the corner and investigate to see what was going on. That’s when I saw cops engage their slides on their AR-15’s. I heard one large bang but nothing other than that,” the student said. “I stayed around the area and saw people running out of the chem lab.”

The student added that the “general feeling around campus described in one word is disturbed.”

Aiden Scott, a UNC grad student and former classmate of Qi’s, told WRAL News that Qi was quiet and “seemed very nice.”

Law enforcement respond to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, after the university locked down and warned of an armed person on campus. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)

“I would have never guessed that he would be the kind of person who could possibly be capable of this kind of thing,” Scott said. “He was always very quiet.”

“Every single time he would talk to me, he seemed very nice. When I saw his face in the reports online, I was beyond shocked.”

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“One of my friends worked with him in the chemistry lab. However, he graduated this past year and was not [there],” he said. “Overall, it was extremely unexpected. I would always see stuff in the news but never expected to see things like this in person first hand taking place. The campus is extremely saddened and frustrated by the current events. For example, [there] where petitions on campus to ban UNC police officers. And even having police free days. Which is disturbing all together. Because situations like this are when we need police more than ever.”

Chapel Hill issued an “all clear” alert just after 4:30 p.m. All classes were canceled on Monday and Tuesday.

Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.