Wednesday, August 28, 2024, 01:00
The event will be dedicated to UNC professor Dr. Zijie Yan, who was gunned down in his office last year.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) – Wednesday marks one year since shots were fired in a building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, killing a professor.
The violence led to a lockdown of the entire campus while the manhunt is carried out for a graduate student who remains in custody and is accused of the crime.
The UNC is preparing to pay its last respects to the slain man with a memorial service in the bell tower on Wednesday.
Tailei Qi was arrested and charged with the shooting of his professor, Dr. Zijie Yan. Documents show the two were overheard arguing before five shots were fired at Caudill Laboratories around 1 p.m.
The 9mm pistol that authorities said was used in the fatal shooting has not been found.
Yan was an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences and had worked for the university since 2019. At a vigil the day after the shooting, Yan was remembered as a “wonderful human being” and talented scientist.
Dr. Zijie Yan, father of two young children, will be remembered on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus as “a beloved colleague, mentor and friend to so many.”
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