Carolina went into lockdown for the second time since the beginning of the fall semester because a dangerous and armed person was on campus. Fortunately, the incident on September 13 was resolved promptly and without any fatal shooting incident, in contrast to the gunshot on August 28 that claimed the life of faculty member Zijie Yan.
“It’s sad and alarming that there have now been two lockdowns over the last 16 days on our campus where we have had to apprehend individuals who have violated the safety and well-being of our community,” Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz said at a Sept. 13 media conference in Gerrard Hall.
During the incident on September 13, a guy was seen brandishing a gun at Alpine Bagels at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union, according to a 911 call to UNC Police at 12:45 p.m. UNC Police arrived at the location right away to confirm the information.
Police triggered Alert Carolina for a campus lockdown once the information was confirmed at 12:54pm.
The emergency text, email, and social media warnings that advised people to seek cover away from windows were sent out as the sirens began to sound.
UNC Police sent a “all clear” bulletin at 2:10 p.m. after receiving “good information that the suspect was not on campus,” according to James. The suspect, Mickel Deonte Harris, was apprehended by Chapel Hill Police about 2:45 p.m. on the 300 block of Formosa Lane. They detained Harris due to outstanding warrants from an assault that happened on September 5th.
The remainder of the day’s classes were canceled, and on September 14 they resumed.
The university has altered its emergency response protocol, including sending out more regular information and urging the public to turn off their phones during the 76-minute lockdown since the event on August 28. The community was urged to use a recently established feedback site for “comments on what worked and what could work better based on your firsthand experiences” during the Aug. 28 lockdown, according to a campus email sent minutes before the Sept. 13 alert. Feedback is being taken up until September 20.
Based on this feedback and internal reviews, the University will continue to make improvements. “We will learn from today as well,” Guskiewicz said. “We’re going to do everything possible to reassure everyone that visits this campus — lives, learns and works here — that this is a safe place to be.”
The chancellor and police chief congratulated all the neighborhood law enforcement organizations for acting so fast upon receiving the alarm and commended UNC Police for their actions.
