shooter Tailei Qi

The UNC Chapel Hill professor who was shot to death by Tailei Qi was identified as Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences.

The motive for the shooting is still unclear.

The University of North Carolina on Monday issued an emergency alert warning students and staff about an armed and dangerous person on campus.

UNC graduate Tailei Qi was identified as the suspect in Monday’s on-campus shooting.

Tailei Qi, a Wuhan-educated PhD student, was charged with first-degree murder and having a gun on educational property.

Fox News reported:

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate student, Tailei Qi, has been charged with first-degree murder and having a gun on educational property in connection with a shooting on the school’s campus Monday, according to court documents obtained by Fox News.

The shooting incident that left Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, dead prompted a lockdown around 1 p.m. in UNC-Chapel Hill school buildings as students began their first week of classes.

“This loss is devastating, and this shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community,” UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said during a press conference Monday. “We will work to rebuild that sense of trust and safety.”

Authorities did not say if Qi, 34, specially targeted Yan have not revealed a motive behind the killing. No other injuries were reported. Qi was a Ph.D. student and in the same research group as Yan, according to the school’s website.