Suspect charged after 2 killed, 4 injured in shooting on University of North Carolina Charlotte campus
CHARLOTTE NC May 1 2019
What we know:
Two people were killed and four others injured after a gunman opened fire in a classroom at UNCC Tuesday just after 5:30 p.m.
The shooter was taken into custody by officers who rushed to the classroom
Police arrested and charged 22-year-old Trystan Terrell with 2 counts of murder and 4 counts of attempted murder
Terrell was a UNCC student and will make his first court appearance on Thursday
Campus lockdown has been lifted, though the Kennedy building remains closed and is an active crime scene
A man armed with a pistol opened fire on students at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte during the last day of classes Tuesday, killing two people and wounding four, police said.
“Just loud bangs. A couple loud bangs and then we just saw everyone run out of the building, like nervous, like a scared run like they were looking behind,” said Antonio Rodriguez, 24, who was visiting campus for his friend’s art show.
Campus Police Chief Jeff Baker said authorities received a call around 5:40 p.m. that a suspect armed with a pistol had shot several students in the Kennedy building on South Library Lane.
He said officers assembling nearby for a concert rushed to the classroom building and arrested the gunman in the room where the shooting took place.
“Our officers’ actions definitely saved lives,” Baker said at a news conference.
He said two people were killed, and three remained in critical condition late Tuesday. He said a fourth person’s injuries were less serious. Students were among the victims, but officials would not say how many.
Police said paramedics took three of the victims to the hospital while a UNCC police sergeant rushed the fourth victim to a local hospital. The two victims who did not survive were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department identified the suspect as Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22. They said he’s in custody and they were not looking for any other suspects.
Terrell has been charged with two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, possession of a firearm on educational property and discharging a firearm on educational property.
He will appear before a judge on Thursday.
Officials told Channel 9 that Terrell is a UNCC student.
Monifa Drayton, an adjunct professor, was walking onto campus when she heard the shots. She said she directed students fleeing the scene to take cover inside a parking deck.
“I heard one final gunshot and I saw all the children running toward me,” she said. “We started to get all the children pulled into the second floor of the parking deck and the rationale was if we’re in the parking deck and there’s a shooter and we don’t know where he is, he won’t have a clear shot.”
She added: “My thought was, I’ve lived my life, I’ve had a really good life, so, these students deserve the same. And so, whatever I could do to help any child to safety, that’s what I was going to do.”
The campus was locked down for hours. The university tweeted around 11 p.m. that all occupants on campus could depart. That lockdown was lifted early Wednesday, though the Kennedy building remained closed as police process the scene.
The university will be in “Condition 2” suspended operations until midnight, and all scheduled activities are canceled. The Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will open at 8 a.m. to serve students and the Family Assistance Center will also open at 8 a.m. in the Barnhardt Student Activity Center to provide specialized support services to victims and their families.
The suspect’s grandfather Paul Rold of Arlington, Texas, said that Terrell and his father moved to Charlotte from the Dallas area about two years ago after his mother died, according to the Associated Press.
Terrell taught himself French and Portuguese with the help of a language learning program his grandfather bought him and was attending UNC-Charlotte, Rold said. But Terrell never showed any interest in guns or other weapons and the news he may have been involved in a mass shooting was stunning, said Rold, who had not heard about the Charlotte attack before being contacted by an Associated Press reporter.
“You’re describing someone foreign to me,” Rold said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. “This is not in his DNA.”
CMPD’s bomb squad made sure there were no explosives before investigators went inside and gathered evidence that could help them understand why Terrell may have opened fire.
The university has more than 26,500 students and 3,000 faculty and staff. The campus is northeast of uptown and is surrounded by residential areas.
Below is a list of agencies that responded:
UNC Police
Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Homicide Prosecution Team
Victim services
K-9
Aviation Unit
Real Time Crime Center
SWAT
Charlotte Fire Department
MEDIC
Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Department
North Carolina State Highway Patrol
Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Department
Federal Bureau of Investigations
State Bureau of Investigations
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Alcohol Beverage Control Officers
Operations Command
Gov. Roy Cooper came to Charlotte Tuesday to be with the UNCC community. He said at a briefing late Tuesday that a “hard look” was needed into how the shooting happened and how to keep guns off campus and out of schools.
“This is a tragic day at this great university, the city of Charlotte and North Carolina here on the last day of class, just a few days to graduation. But I know the people this community and they will be here for each other. We mourn the loss of life, we pray for those who are being treated at the hospital now,” he said.
“A student should not have to fear for his or her life when they are on our campuses,” the Democrat said. “Parents should not have to worry about their students when they send them off to school. And I know that this violence has to stop. … In the coming days we will take a hard look at all of this to see what we need to do going forward.”
Counseling and Psychological Services is currently providing counseling services to students who were on campus during the event. We intend to make counseling and spiritual support services available to the entire campus community beginning tomorrow morning. Faculty and staff who need support overnight should contact the Employee Assistance Program at 1- 877-603-8259. Additional details regarding those services and other resources will follow in the coming hours.
Baker expressed sadness for the community and said the actions of his officers saved lives.
“We had the most tragic situation that can occur on a campus at UNC Charlotte this evening,” Baker told Channel 9. “Our dispatch received a call that a suspect was armed with a pistol and had shot several students. We responded we were able to get into the building quick enough to where we actually took custody of the suspect. He was disarmed and he was taken into custody. At the same time, simultaneously, we secured the entire campus. We were able to lock it down through a system that utilizes simply pressing one button and locking down the entire campus.”
The FBI was called to help with the investigation.
“The FBI is on scene and assisting the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and other law enforcement partners at UNC-Charlotte in the aftermath of an on-campus shooting. The FBI is prepared to provide any resource needed as the investigation continues to determine exactly what led to this tragic loss of life in our community,” said John Strong, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Charlotte.
