EXCLUSIVE: UNC gunman is pictured with his smiling associate professor just months before he ‘shot him dead in university physics lab’ – as Wuhan-educated suspect faces first-degree murder charges
- UNC student Tailei Qi has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Monday’s campus shooting
- His academic advisor, Zijie Yan, was shot dead in the shooting
- Qi and Yan have written several research papers together in recent years
Alleged gunman Tailei Qi and his University of North Carolina academic advisor Zijie Yan were pictured together before the graduate student shot and killed the associate professor on campus on Monday.
Suspect Tailei Qi, a physics graduate student at UNC and a former Wuhan University student, was arrested after gunfire on Monday and charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday.
According to the UNC website, it has since emerged that Yan Qi had been teaching as part of a physics research group. Yan had worked at the university as an associate professor in the applied physics department.
The only fatality in the shooting was faculty member Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physics.
Qi reportedly worked closely with Yan’s research group at UNC, which focused on nanoscience technology, as reported by WRAL News.
The shooting resulted in the UNC-Chapel Hill campus being cordoned off.
University of North Carolina gunman suspect Tailei Qi (third from right) is pictured with his alleged victim, associate professor Zijie Yan (second from left).
A UNC faculty member, Zijie Yan, was shot dead. As it turned out, he was the suspect’s academic advisor
UNC student Tailei Qi has been charged with first-degree shooting in connection with Monday’s Chapel Hill campus shooting
Qi (not pictured) reportedly worked closely with Yan’s research group at UNC, which focused on nanoscience technology, WRAL News reported.
After the arrest, it took about an hour and a half for the lockdown to be lifted as authorities made sure they had the right suspect in custody.
The building where the shooting broke out is a stone’s throw from the school’s famous bell tower and a few doors down from the shop that sells student books and other goods.
At a press conference on Monday evening, investigators said they had not yet found a motive for the shooting.
However, a number of worrying social media posts have been unearthed in which Qi complained about his UNC peers and blasted bullies at school.
The doctoral student had already studied at the University of Wuhan in 2015 and was studying there at the Faculty of Applied Physics.
He also earned a Masters in Materials Science from Louisiana State University in 2021.
Last month, Qi shared an article on LinkedIn that he wrote about optical binding, which was published on his behalf and on behalf of two others, including his adviser and the alleged victim.
In recent years, the two scientists have written several papers on the effects of light on nanoparticles. Yan’s recent work has focused on so-called “optical tweezers” – a technique that uses light to engineer advanced nanorobots inside cells.
UNC Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz said in a statement, “This loss is devastating and the shooting damages the trust and safety we so often take for granted in our campus community.”
“We will work to restore that sense of trust and safety to our community, and our thoughts are with the family of our faculty colleagues, those personally connected with the victim, and those traumatized by this senseless act of violence. ”
Yan joined UNC in 2019 after working at Clarkson University and the University of Chicago.
In an image provided to WRAL, Tailei Qi can be seen sitting on the ground near a property about a mile from campus, wearing a dark shirt and glasses