People gather across from the campus of UNC Charlotte after a shooting incident at the school Tuesday, April 30, 2019, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by JASON E. MICZEK / AP)
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina 鈥� A man armed with a pistol opened fire on students at a North Carolina university during the last day of classes Tuesday, killing two people and wounding four, police said. Officers who had gathered ahead of a campus concert raced over and disarmed the suspect.
The shooting prompted a lockdown at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and caused widespread panic across campus as students scrambled to take shelter.
鈥淛ust 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,鈥� said Antonio Rodriguez, 24, who was visiting campus for his friend鈥檚 art show.
Campus Police Chief Jeff Baker said authorities received a call in the late afternoon that a suspect armed with a pistol had shot several students. 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.
鈥淥ur officers鈥� actions definitely saved lives,鈥� 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鈥檚 injuries were less serious. Students were among the victims, but officials would not say how many.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department identified the suspect as Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22. They said he鈥檚 in custody with charges pending.
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.
鈥淚 heard one final gunshot and I saw all the children running toward me,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e started to get all the children pulled into the second floor of the parking deck and the rationale was if we鈥檙e in the parking deck and there鈥檚 a shooter and we don鈥檛 know where he is, he won鈥檛 have a clear shot.鈥�
She added: 鈥淢y thought was, I鈥檝e lived my life, I鈥檝e had a really good life, so, these students deserve the same. And so, whatever I could do to help any child to safety, that鈥檚 what I was going to do.鈥�
The suspect鈥檚 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. 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.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e describing someone foreign to me,鈥� Rold said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. 鈥淭his is not in his DNA.鈥�
Shortly after UNC Charlotte issued a campus lockdown, aerial shots from local television news outlets showed police officers running toward a building, while another view showed students running on a campus sidewalk.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department later said that the campus had been secured and that officers were going through buildings to let people who were hiding know that it was safe to come out.
The university has more than 26,500 students and 3,000 faculty and staff. The campus is northeast of the city center and is surrounded by residential areas.
Spenser Gray, a junior, said she was watching another student鈥檚 presentation in a nearby campus building when the alert about the shooting popped up on everyone鈥檚 computer screens.
She said she panicked: 鈥淲e had no idea where he was 鈥� so we were just expecting them at any moment coming into the classroom.鈥�
Susan Harden, an UNCC professor and Mecklenburg County Commissioner, was at home when she heard of the shooting. She went to a staging area, she said, to provide support.
Harden said she has taught inside the Kennedy building, where the shootings occurred.
鈥淚t breaks my heart. We鈥檙e torn up about what鈥檚 happened,鈥� Harden said. 鈥淪tudents should be able to learn in peace and in safety and professors ought to be able to do their jobs in safety.鈥�
Gov. Roy Cooper said at a briefing late Tuesday that a 鈥渉ard look鈥� was needed into how the shooting happened and how to keep guns off campus and out of schools.
鈥淎 student should not have to fear for his or her life when they are on our campuses,鈥� the Democrat said. 鈥淧arents should not have to worry about their students when they send them off to school. And I know that this violence has to stop. 鈥� In the coming days we will take a hard look at all of this to see what we need to do going forward.鈥�
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