By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM (Associated Press)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — An obvious taking pictures on the University of North Carolina flagship campus on Monday led to a school-wide alert warning of an “armed, dangerous person on or near campus” and urging individuals to go inside and keep away from home windows.
Authorities didn’t instantly present particulars of the alleged taking pictures on the Chapel Hill campus, together with whether or not anybody had been shot. But Gov. Roy Cooper posted on X, previously generally known as Twitter, that he had spoken to the Orange County sheriff and the state’s public security secretary and “pledged all state resources needed to capture the shooter and protect the UNC campus.”
Cooper’s workplace declined to supply additional info, saying it didn’t need to get forward of what native authorities have been saying. School officers mentioned as quickly as that they had verified info, they might share it. They didn’t instantly reply to an electronic mail searching for additional particulars.
The faculty’s first alert was despatched out simply after 1 p.m. At 1:50 p.m., officers posted on X that the shelter-in-place order remained in impact and that it was “an ongoing situation.” About 40 minutes later, the varsity added a submit saying: “Remain sheltered in place. This is an ongoing situation. Suspect at large.”
About two hours after the primary alert went out, officers have been nonetheless arriving in droves, with about 50 police automobiles on the scene and a number of helicopters circling over the varsity.
One officer admonished two individuals who tried to exit the scholar heart, yelling “Inside, now!” About 10 minutes later, legislation enforcement escorted a bunch of scholars out of one of many science buildings, with everybody strolling in an orderly line with their arms up.
UNC Medical Center was nonetheless accepting sufferers Monday afternoon regardless of being on lockdown as a precaution, but it surely had not acquired any sufferers from the incident on campus, based on Alan Wolf, a spokesperson for UNC Health. Outpatient clinics have been closed for the day, he mentioned.
The report of the taking pictures and subsequent lockdown paralyzed campus and components of the encircling city of Chapel Hill every week after courses started on the state’s flagship public college. The college has roughly 20,000 undergraduate college students and 12,000 graduate college students.
A scholar informed TV station WTVD that she had barricaded her dormitory door together with her furnishings. Another scholar, talking softly, described hiding in worry with others in a darkish rest room.
Noel T. Brewer, a professor of well being habits, mentioned he was as soon as held at gunpoint in his mom’s jewellery retailer, however that Monday’s obvious taking pictures and lockdown was “far more stressful.”
Speaking from his locked workplace the place he hid with different colleagues, Brewer, 57, mentioned by cellphone that he was getting little info.
Brewer, a married father of two younger children, mentioned he felt for anybody who may need been shot.
“But even in our own building, the students who are locked down and what they’re thinking about — it’s just a lot. It’s a terrible situation,” mentioned Brewer.
It was additionally the primary day of kindergarten for Brewer’s 5-year-old son. His elementary faculty was additionally on lockdown.
“He doesn’t know what’s going on. And at some point, he’s going to realize that he hasn’t gotten on the bus when he’s supposed to,” he mentioned.
Brewer, who additionally has a 2-year-old added: “My husband and I have been trading texts and trying to figure out what to do … Just wondering how our kids are feeling. It’s a lot.”
One of Brewer’s colleagues is visiting from Africa and staying within the U.S. for the primary time.
“She said her one concern was guns and possibly something happening at the university,” Brewer mentioned. “And this was her first faculty meeting, and her worst nightmare came true.”
As he and his colleagues waited in locked workplaces, they texted one another about whether or not it was secure to stroll to the toilet.
“We’re trying to tell each other stories and talk about cooking and trying to not get worked up,” he mentioned. “But at the same time, we’re fielding lots of texts and calls from friends and family and colleagues.”
Nearby Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools posted on social media that each one doorways can be locked at its faculties and workplaces till authorities say it’s secure.
___
Associated Press writers Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland, Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”