A person of interest has bee identified by the police after the University of North Carolina went into a lockdown on Monday following an active shooter alert. Tailei Qi, the person hunted by the police was arrested a mile from the university.
Video of him in handcuffs and sitting on the pavement was broadcasted by al major media outlets:
The picture of UNC research student Tailei Qi has been issued by the police as “person of interest.” In a statement, the police said, “This photo shows a person of interest in today’s armed and dangerous person situation. If you see this person, keep your distance, put your safety first and call 911.”
Initially, before naming the person if interest, an Emergency Alert Carolina was sent to University members at 1:04 p.m. alerting campus of an “armed and dangerous person on or near campus.” The University police also sent out an email advising all students to go inside immediately, close windows and doors and to wait until further notice.
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Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools also issued a security alert which informed the students that the district will be in “Secure Mode,” meaning building doors will be locked and no one can enter or exit schools until the authorities give an all-clear.
Who is Tailei Qi?
Qi graduated from Wuhan University in 2015, according to Daily Mail. He has been pictured as someone that the UNC police wants to speak to in connection to the reported shooting alert issued at the university.
Qi appeared to be of Asian descent and was seen wearing a light-grey shirt in the photo issued by the police. He has short, black, cropped hair.
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People on social media also dug up Qi’s LinkedIn profile and posted screenshots of the same on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He is a physics students who was working at the university as a research student since 2022. He previously attended Louana State University. He is a PHD student in applied physical sciences. According to his profile, he likes running and hiking and was also once an 800m champion and placed sixth in the 1500m race. He also plays badminton, tennis and table tennis.
A man was reportedly detained and was questioned in police custody. However, their handcuffs were removed and the UNC police that informed students that the shooting suspect was still at large. The name of the individual questioned was not released by the police.
