UNC highlights new safety measures rolled out following deadly shooting on-campus

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- UNC officials address feedback from students and faculty following last year's deadly shooting on-campus.

"We don't know if and when an emergency might present itself, but we do want to ensure that our campus community is prepared," said Darrell Jeter, UNC Director of Emergency Management and Planning.

On August 23, 2023, campus was on lockdown for hours after reports of a shooting inside Caudill Labs, in which associate professor Dr. Zijie Yan was killed. Ultimately, authorities arrested graduate student Tailei Qi.

While an Alert Carolina message was sent immediately, members of the university community expressed confusion over the messaging.

"We identified an opportunity to provide more clarity in that initial notification that we send out," Jeter said.

Another point of concern: a lack of follow-up information.

"We were on lockdown for like four or five hours. A little bit more response times in between would have been useful so that students don't get as anxious," junior Cecilia Derlon said.

"We also recognized that there was a desire to receive more routine updates between the time we send the initial emergency warning out and the 'all clear' message. And so how we provide those updates and at what frequency we provide those updates is a part of the adjustments and changes that we're making," Jeter said.

Jeter labeled distributing Alert Carolina messages in different languages as a priority; as of Fall 2023, UNC enrolled more than 2,600 international students from more than 110 countries.

Improved language in alert messages was one specific measure listed in the after-action report released in March.

Past that, Jeter pointed to physical security enhancements across campus, including adding cameras.

"We continue the effort working with our campus partners to ensure that locations throughout campus, we have the ability to maintain situational awareness for our first responders and campus safety personnel so that we can put eyes on an area that we may need to monitor," Jeter said.

Further, there is ongoing work to outfit classrooms with door locks. Jeter noted as of the spring, more than 90% of classrooms are equipped to be locked from the inside.

"I heard so many stories of students having to barricade doors with whatever was out in the classroom because the doors didn't lock. And I think that already caused so much anxiety for students that anybody can just come in and out. So I think the locks will definitely, definitely help," Derlon said.

Derlon believes the university has heard and worked to address concerns from students in the aftermath of the shooting.

"I would definitely say that last year's incident will always kind of leave a mark on the students that were here. I think we're a little bit more hyper vigilant of people on our campus, people that aren't students on our campus," Derlon said.

UNC also released updated training modules geared toward faculty and teaching assistants.