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Gunman Opens Fire On UNC-Charlotte Campus, Killing Two And Injuring Four

   DailyWire.com

Two students are dead and four more were injured when a gunman, who will not be named by The Daily Wire, began shooting in a classroom at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC) on Tuesday night.

The New York Times reported that students and North Carolina residents Ellis R. Parlier, 19, and Riley C. Howell, 21, were killed after a man — who may or may not also be a student — opened fire on a lecture about science and technology in society. Four other students were injured — three required surgery but are expected to make a full recovery, while the fourth sustained less severe injuries and was already released from the hospital.

The man who shot the students was apprehended by police Tuesday night. The man’s grandfather told the Associated Press the shooter had no interest in guns and was shocked when he was contacted by the media outlet.

“You’re describing someone foreign to me,” the grandfather told the AP. “This is not in his DNA.”

The New York Times originally reported that the grandfather claimed the shooter was a “weapons enthusiast,” but added a correction accurately describing his interview.

Police still don’t have a motive for the shooting. Jeff Baker, chief of UNCC’s Police and Public Safety Department said during a press conference, recorded by the Charlotte Observer, that the shooter was “not somebody on our radar.”

Baker also said police responded quickly to reports of an active shooter, and were able to keep the gunman from leaving the classroom and hurting more students. The UNCC police chief, however, was not able to say whether any particular students were targeted or if the gunman was firing randomly.

When the shooter was arrested, he “appeared to flash a smile” at TV cameras, according to the Times.

The paper also reported that the shooter voted in the 2016 election but didn’t report who he voted for, and that the suspect had not been arrested in the past three years, which is as far back as immediately available public records go.

The shooter faces “two counts of murder, four counts of attempted first degree murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm on an educational property and discharging a firearm on an educational property,” according to the Times.

Though the campus went into lockdown Tuesday night during the shooting, that was lifted on Wednesday, the Times reported. However, final exams for the rest of the week have been cancelled. Commencement ceremonies will continue as scheduled.

In a tweet sent during the shooting, UNCC Emergency Management told students: “Run, Hide, Fight. Secure yourself immediately.” In a campus update posted after the shooting, UNCC Emergency Management announced the school would be closed on Wednesday except for support services such as counseling. A student-organized campus vigil will take place Wednesday night.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), said he planned to review the shooting to find ways to prevent future shootings.

“This violence has to stop,” he told reporters hours after the shooting.

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