UNC-Chapel Hill Shelter Lifted, Suspect in Custody

UNC-Chapel Hill shelter-in-place order lifted as authorities apprehend suspect.

Chad: Breaking news out of Chapel Hill, a suspect is in custody after UNC students were told to shelter in place and a student union was closed today after reports of an armed person on campus.

Natalie: The all clear has been given since the sound of that intercom warning. We have learned a few minutes ago that police arrested a suspect, but nerves are still rattled this afternoon as this triggered familiar feelings from just two weeks ago when a gunman shot and killed a professor on campus. Fox 8’s Cassie Fambro is at UNC right now and, Cassie, you were there following that shooting. What is the feeling there today and what do we know so far about what happened this afternoon?

Cassie: Well, Chad and Natalie, since we’ve been on campus, we’ve already seen that some students feel very mixed about what’s going on here today. Some déjà vu obviously since what happened on August 28th, but they’re wandering about. We’ll give you a look at the student union where we are where that incident happened earlier, some of them grabbing a bite to eat as the student union has reopened, wandering around campus since classes are canceled today. That all clear given roughly about 2:15 today after that report of an armed suspect on campus.

Now, the incident that initiated this alert, Chad and Natalie, to that lockdown happened here at the student union at a bagel shop when a person brandished a firearm after a reported dispute in that letter from the chancellor. He says it was an employee-related matter that sent students though running a ripple of panic through this university that’s already shell-shocked.

No shots were fired. The university’s chancellor also saying that the suspect has been arrested but not identifying who it was. Students experiencing déjà vu emotionally after a professor was shot and killed on August 28th and, guys, it was at the same time of day on August 28th. We spoke to one student just moments ago who said that he’s been shaken up.

Student: It was the same class where two weeks ago the first shooting happened. So, we were all pretty like, “Not again,” and distraught.

Cassie: Not again and distraught. Those words really summing up the mood here at UNC-Chapel Hill just a couple weeks after that first deadly incident. Again, class is canceled for the rest of the day. They are scheduled to resume tomorrow. For now, live at UNC-Chapel Hill. Cassie Fambro Fox 8 News.

Natalie: Cassie, thank you for that comparison.

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