By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – A faculty member at the University of North Carolina was shot dead in a shooting on campus on Monday, officials said, adding a suspect was arrested and the threat was cleared by late afternoon
“I’m devastated the UNC (University of North Carolina) community lost a faculty member in an act of violence on campus,” the institution’s chancellor, Kevin Guskiewicz, said in a statement.
Police were notified of shots being fired at the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, campus early Monday afternoon, the chancellor said. He added the suspect was apprehended and taken into custody.
Police issued an “all clear” for the campus around two hours later and said there was no further immediate threat. During the stand-off, there was heavy police presence around the campus, media footage from the scene showed.
Police had earlier released the male suspect’s image on X, formerly called Twitter, when he was not yet in custody and described him as a “person of interest in today’s armed and dangerous person situation.”
The authorities did not reveal the identities of the deceased faculty member and the suspect.
“In response, we have canceled classes and all campus events for the rest of the day on Monday, Aug. 28 and Tuesday, Aug. 29,” the chancellor added.
The university has a student population of about 32,000, along with about 4,100 faculty and 9,000 staff members.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said earlier on Monday he had “pledged all state resources needed” to protect the university campus.
The university had asked those on campus to stay sheltered in place for much of the afternoon while the suspect was still at large. The shooting took place in the campus’ Caudill Laboratories.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)