The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill is under lockdown after reports of at least one shot fired on campus, just after 1 p.m. Shortly after 1 p.m., the school sent out an alert saying,
“Emergency: Armed, dangerous person on or near campus. Go inside now; avoid windows.” A local NBC station reported there was a massive presence of police and emergency vehicles near the Caudill Labs building on South Road.
There were earlier reports that a suspect was in custody, but at 2:35 p.m., UNC Police released an image of an Asian man in a gray shirt who was identified as a person of interest.
“This photo shows a person of interest in today’s armed and dangerous person situation. If you see this person, keep your distance, put your safety first and call 911,” the post read.
They ask anyone who sees the person of interest to keep their distance, put their safety first and call 911. Alert Carolina sent a message just before 2:30 p.m. saying the suspect is still at large.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools posted to Facebook that students and staff will continue to stay indoors until school officials receive an “all clear” message from authorities, as a safety precaution.
“For planning purposes, this means dismissal at all levels of school will be significantly delayed today,” the district said. “Once the ‘all clear’ is given, we’ll begin dismissing in the usual order, with elementary students first, followed by middle schools and high schools.
We do not yet know what time it will be considered safe to dismiss students and staff during this ongoing situation.” The Daily Tar Heel, a student-run paper at UNC, reported that one of the lanes on Interstate 40 has been closed, and some campus buildings are being evacuated.
