2019 University of North Carolina at Charlotte shooting

The shooting occurred during the last day of classes for the spring semester, at around 5:40 p.m. EDT, according to university officials. The classroom, with a level floor and 14 separate tables, The course instructor was anthropology professor Adam Johnson. The first presentation began at around 5:33 p.m., with each group having been assigned to produce a 10-minute video on their chosen topic. According to Al-Ramadhan, the gunman opened the front door and smiled before firing his weapon at random, showing no other reaction. After the gunman had emptied his gun by discharging it a total of 17 times during the attack, he "...laid the gun down, and sat on the ground," according to Johnson. The gunman then responded to a victim who had asked him to stop shooting, stating "I'm done." At 5:50 p.m., UNC Charlotte's Office of Emergency Management alerted students via Niner Alerts on Twitter, saying "Shots reported near Kennedy. Run, Hide, Fight. Secure yourself immediately." At the time the shooting was reported, UNC Charlotte police chief Jeff Baker and around 14 of his officers were reviewing security plans for a Waka Flocka Flame concert scheduled to be held on campus that evening; according to Baker, "when we heard this call come out we all converged [on the Kennedy Building] almost immediately." UNC Charlotte Police Sergeant Richard Gundacker was the first of the officers to enter the building. According to an affidavit submitted to a magistrate, Gundacker entered Room 236 and yelled to the survivors to identify the gunman, who then identified himself. Gundacker, who prior to joining the UNC Charlotte Police had retired from the New York City Police Department (1995–2015) in 2015 as a detective, was able to disarm the gunman, recovering the Glock pistol he had used along with multiple gun magazines in a black leather bag. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department SWAT in conjunction with Charlotte Fire Department Special Tactical Units had secured buildings on campus by 6:35 p.m., with the suspected gunman identified as a male student at UNCC at 6:55 p.m. == Victims ==

There were six victims of the shooting, all current students. and three underwent surgery. Al-Ramadhan was hit by two bullets, one grazing an arm and another hitting his stomach; Pescaro was hit by a bullet that entered his back about an inch from his spine and pierced his abdomen, just missing his stomach and liver. Parlier was from Midland and was a graduate of Central Academy of Technology and Arts. Howell was from Waynesville and was a graduate of T. C. Roberson High School, where he had run cross country and played on the soccer team. Howell was an environmental studies major at UNC Charlotte. Per his family, he dreamt of becoming a firefighter and put off military school for college. Al-Ramadhan is an international student from Saihat who is studying engineering. Pescaro, from Apex, is a graduate of Middle Creek High School in Cary, and is studying communications at UNC Charlotte. He is a sportswriter for the student newspaper, a video assistant for the football team, and co-host of the UNCC sports talk show Fans with Attitude. Houpt, a native of Charlotte, is a global studies major at UNC Charlotte and a former intern at The Worlds Affairs Council of Charlotte. and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Citizen Honors Award, as well as a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star which were presented to his family. In December 2019, the publication Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - The Visual Dictionary included "Jedi Master and historian Ri-Lee Howell." Chancellor Phillip Dubois said the university would award Howell and Parlier "degrees in memoriam" at the spring commencement, with a special presentation ceremony for Houpt, who was expected to recover sufficiently enough to personally attend. == Perpetrator ==

Trystan Andrew Terrell (born June 6, 1996) is a former history undergraduate at UNC Charlotte who had withdrawn from the university on February 14, 2019. Born in Texas and a registered voter in Mecklenburg County, he had no prior criminal record in either North Carolina or in Texas. UNC Charlotte police said they had not noted him as a potential threat prior to the shooting. He spent his high school years in a middle-class neighborhood in Mansfield, Texas, where he attended Mansfield High School. Rold described his grandson as "not bubbly and effervescent, rather shy, quiet, studious, not athletic," though he had tried to introduce his grandson to baseball and golf, with no success. According to David Spano, the university's director of counseling and psychological services, though his office had a team to monitor "students of concern," Terrell had not been monitored at any point before he withdrew from the university. he took the light rail to campus on the day of the shooting, carrying a backpack; CMPD investigators intended to review available security footage along the line. Terrell was charged with two counts of murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon intending to kill, one count of having a gun on education property, and one count of discharging a firearm on education property. Police searched his third-floor apartment at the Novel NoDa apartment complex in the 400 block of E. 36th Street in NoDa around 8:00 p.m. on April 30., recovering a laptop, paper targets, three handgun magazines, six boxes of ammunition, and a magazine loader. On September 19, 2019, Terrell pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first degree murder and discharging a firearm on educational property; four assault charges were dropped. In court, Terrell's defense attorneys testified Terrell had been experiencing stress from student debt and being unable to find employment, and that his autism had caused him to obsess and "panic" about his situation. Terrell had selected UNC Charlotte as he was familiar with the campus and was frustrated about being in debt to the university. Terrell apologized to the families of the victims, saying he had "made a mistake." As part of a plea bargain reached with the Mecklenburg County district attorney, he avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. ==Aftermath==

UNC Charlotte canceled all remaining scheduled university activities for the evening of April 30 and canceled all final examinations, which had been scheduled through Sunday, May 5. In the wake of the shooting, the Waka Flocka Flame concert originally scheduled to take place at the Jerry Richardson Stadium on campus later that evening was canceled. On May 1, approximately 7,500 people attended an on-campus vigil. Among the commission's objectives was deciding how best to memorialize the shooting and its victims, along with deciding the future of the Kennedy Building, which after the shooting and subsequent investigation was kept open for university personnel. According to Dubois, the commission would begin by seeking input from the victims' families, along with holding public sessions with the UNC Charlotte and the greater Charlotte community. At the graduation following the shooting, the UNCC Commencement Brass Band played a section of Frank Ticheli's "An American Elegy," a piece written about the Columbine High School Shooting. The two students who were killed received honorary diplomas. On May 7, a group of UNC Charlotte students presented a list of demands at a meeting of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners, which included the implementation of a “school exit program” for students who drop out of Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools, including exit interviews and job assistance. The group also called for a county-wide task force dedicated to studying and preventing gun violence, local government investment in gun violence research, and changes to gun laws, such as limits placed on ammunition purchased at one time. Dubois further said additional safety training would be offered in the fall 2019 semester, and that the university's internal review on the shooting was "well underway," along with plans for an external review. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles stated on Twitter, "My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives, those injured, the entire UNCC community and the courageous first responders who sprang into action to help others." The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte announced that prayer services honoring the victims would be held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and St. Gabriel Church. St. Thomas Aquinas Church donated 1,700 candles for the campus vigil. On May 20, one of the victims of the shooting, Riley Howell, who had died from his wounds sustained while tackling the shooter, was given a tribute by LucasFilm. As an avid fan with deep knowledge of the Star Wars lore, he was re-imagined in canon as a Star Wars character, referenced as Jedi Master and historian Ri-Lee Howell in the visual dictionary for The Rise of Skywalker film. The book credits "Ri-Lee Howell" with collecting "many of the earliest accounts of exploration and codifications of The Force." == See also ==