UNC rattled by 2nd campus lockdown in 16 days. Suspect who ‘brandished’ gun arrested.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill issued an “all clear” message Wednesday afternoon following a report of an armed person near campus that locked down the university for over an hour.

It was the second lockdown at the university in less than three weeks. UNC Police reported no shots were fired. No injuries were reported.

On Wednesday, the Chapel Hill Police Department said Mickel Deonte Harris, 27, of Durham, was arrested around 2:45 p.m in the 300 block of Formosa Lane in Chapel Hill. He was arrested on outstanding warrants related to an assault on Sept. 5.

Charges for the incident on campus Wednesday are pending, UNC Police Chief Brian James said at a press conference Wednesday.

Charges in the warrant for the Sept. 5 incident include assault with a deadly weapon, communicating threats and going armed to the terror of the public. The incident report for that incident, obtained by The News & Observer, said he had a handgun at a convenience store.

The university issued an emergency Alert Carolina notification at 12:54 p.m. Wednesday saying there was an “armed and dangerous person on or near campus” and urging people to shelter in place. The alert followed a 911 call at 12:45 p.m., James said. The almost 10-minute delay between the call and the alert being issued was due to police working to confirm details of the event and making sure the call was credible, James said.

UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said the incident began with reports of “a person who brandished a weapon” at the student union. According to witnesses, James said, the suspect confronted an employee at Alpine Bagel, an on-campus restaurant in the university’s student union, displayed a firearm and threatened the employee.

James said police were exploring the relationship between the employee and the suspect, but they believe “there was some type of connection.”

Guskiewicz said in a campus message Wednesday afternoon that the incident “was related to a personnel matter” at one of the university’s auxiliary units, which include on-campus services like dining.

University police are leading the investigation into Wednesday’s incident, Chapel Hill police said.

The university canceled classes for the rest of Wednesday. Classes will resume Thursday. The student union announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it would close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Students frustrated after incident at Alpine Bagel on Chapel Hill campus

Emily Voncannon, a senior at UNC, told The N&O she had gotten in line at Alpine Bagel just before 1 p.m. and heard an argument taking place at the cash register. She then heard someone yell “run” or “gun,” and students began fleeing the building. Voncannon said she did not hear any gunshots.

The university issued two additional alerts, at 1:29 p.m. and 1:54 p.m., that urged people to continue sheltering in place on campus before the all-clear was announced at 2:12 p.m. James said the all-clear was issued prior to the arrest being made because police were able to confirm the suspect was no longer on campus.

The university said with the all-clear that it was safe to return to normal activities on campus. Students were seen coming out of buildings and congregating in the Pit, a common gathering spot at the center of campus just outside of the student union. Hundreds filled the area and socialized.

Standing with her friends and with an ice cream cone in hand, Karli Nichols was among the people in the big crowds outside of the student union building. Nichols was locked down in Lenoir Dining Hall along with hundreds of students who rushed in from outside in a chaotic scene outside the student union, where Alpine Bagel is located.

She expressed frustration at what had happened in her first month at the university.

Wednesday’s incident came 16 days after the fatal on-campus shooting of Zijie Yan, an associate professor, on Aug. 28. That shooting sent the university campus into lockdown for more than three hours. Tailei Qi, a graduate student, is accused of first-degree murder in Yan’s death.

”I’m a little stressed out because we still have work to do ... (we have) midterms. And this is the second time this happens,” Nichols told The N&O about 15 minutes after the lockdown was lifted. “We’re not updated on the situation, we had to find out from external sources. This is too much.”

UNC campus police, Chapel Hill police, the Orange County sheriff’s department and the North Carolina Highway Patrol could be seen on campus Wednesday afternoon.

”I feel like they just don’t care,” said T’Keyra Mack, also a first-year student. “I hear students from different countries, they’re like, ‘I come to a school in America and this is what happens?’”

On Tuesday, dozens of UNC students rallied at the state General Assembly to advocate for stricter gun laws following the shooting on Aug. 28.

A second lockdown after UNC professor shot and killed

Wednesday’s incident is not related to the fatal on-campus shooting, Guskiewicz said, but “the news of another armed person and a second lockdown on our campus is concerning and can be traumatic.”

“It’s sad and alarming that there have now been two lockdowns over the past 16 days on our campus where we’ve had to apprehend individuals who have violated the safety and well-being of our community,” Guskiewicz said Wednesday.

Katherine Snow Smith, a graduate student, was on campus Wednesday when the sirens sounded and ducked into a classroom in Phillips Hall. Smith told The N&O that being in the classroom was less frightening, compared to the dark and crowded closet in the student union where she hid just over two weeks ago.

“Key thing: Everyone is in same class they were last time of shooting,” she texted. “About same time but a Wednesday…All students in same classroom with same teacher. Hiding under same desk.”

Smith said the professor in the classroom Wednesday asked students if they wanted him to continue with class, and they voted yes, so he continued lecturing. But he quit early, she said, and though he first said he planned to leave for a meeting, he stayed to help a student with the lesson.

Some students left before the “all clear,” Smith said.

Later, when the message to stand down came across her phone, Smith noted the language.

“All clear. All clear. Resume normal activities,” it read.

Smith’s response: “Once again that word ‘normal.’ They should change that before the next one. What a ridiculous way we live.”

UNC asked to evaluate emergency response

At 12:41 p.m., the university sent out an email with information on a previously announced online portal for students, faculty, staff, parents and others to provide feedback on the university’s response to the Aug. 28 shooting. That email came less than 15 minutes before the first emergency message went out alerting campus of the new threat.

The email said the university’s emergency management and planning team “will look at the emergency response on Aug. 28 and assess improvements to the University’s emergency response plans over the next few months.”

Elizabeth Thompson, a former News & Observer intern and research associate in the journalism school, was on a Zoom call in Carroll Hall Wednesday, explaining to the person on the other end that she “was finally starting to feel normal” after the shooting incident.

“Then 30 minutes into the meeting we got another alert,” she said in a text message to The N&O, as she sat under the desk in her office.

There were other people on the same floor as her, but she was alone, Thompson said. She started to hear police sirens and helicopters as soon as the alert went out, she said. She immediately texted her family and began to “get a deluge of texts from friends checking in.”

“I can tell you this is the second time in three weeks I’m spending the afternoon under my desk,” she said. “It’s so surreal.”

She also said they haven’t received much information from the university while they waited. ”That was the worst part of the last shooting,” Thompson said. “Sitting in my office alone for four hours and having no idea what was happening.”

‘It’s frightening,’ Chapel Hill mayor says

Wednesday’s lockdown, as the previous one, had a ripple effect throughout Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger was fielding calls from police, people on UNC’s campus and downtown businesses Wednesday afternoon as the all-clear went out.

”I had people texting me from different places on campus trying to find out if I knew anything more, because they weren’t getting the alert in the areas where they were,” she said.

Chapel Hill town staff moved to the town’s emergency operations center during the lockdown to help, and Chapel Hill police officers responded to campus to provide backup assistance.

“It’s frightening, and I’ve got my business community downtown not knowing. Locked doors. Not knowing because normally in these situations, somebody does leave campus,” Hemminger said. “That’s why we try to keep them updated through the downtown partnership.”

Orange County put out its own message on the OC Alerts system to let residents who live in and around campus who may not be part of the university’s alert system “to be notified of these kinds of activities,” according to county spokesman Todd McGee. The new step was implemented after concerns from the Aug. 28 that UNC wasn’t getting out information in a timely manner.

All schools in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district were advised to enter “secure mode” while the university was on lockdown, the district said. Elementary schools were expected to be dismissed as normal at 2:35 p.m., “though it may be slightly behind schedule due to today’s events,” the district said. Middle schools and high schools were expected to dismiss at their usual times, the district said.

Duke University issued a message to its campus community at 1:39 p.m. saying the university had stopped its bus service to UNC. Duke urged people to stay away from UNC during the incident.

Chapel Hill and university staff have been talking since the Aug. 28 shooting about how to collaborate better in emergency situations, Hemminger said, including the possibility of getting geofencing software.

“We are meeting to talk about how we do it better because we have to make sure that people in the community know, especially those that are close to campus, because it affects them, too,” she said.

Martha Quillin contributed to this report.