A shooter killed a school member in a science constructing on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday, police mentioned after a lockdown that paralyzed the campus group as authorities looked for the gunman.

Police arrested the suspect over three hours after the preliminary reviews of pictures fired got here in from Caudill Labs, officers mentioned at a information convention. Charges had been pending, and the suspect was not instantly recognized.

University officers additionally didn’t instantly determine the staffer who was killed and mentioned it was too quickly to supply a potential motive.

“This loss is devastating, and the shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community,” Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz mentioned.

Emergency sirens sounded about two minutes after a 911 caller reported gunfire round 1 p.m. on the laboratory within the coronary heart of the flagship campus, UNC Police Chief Brian James mentioned.

Students and school barricaded themselves in dorm rooms, places of work and school rooms till the lockdown was lifted round 4:15 p.m.

No different accidents had been reported.

Adrian Lanier, a sophomore pc science main, advised The Associated Press that he and others sat towards a wall in a health club, attempting to remain as far-off as potential from doorways and home windows as rumors unfold.

“No one really felt safe enough to leave. I didn’t,” Lanier mentioned.

Oliver Katz, an change scholar from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, mentioned some college students crowded into health club locker rooms to get away from home windows whereas others crouched in corners and sat on the ground, he mentioned.

“This never happens where I’m from,” Katz mentioned. “It was intense. But I was a little surprised that other people weren’t panicking that much.”

Katz, who has solely been on campus for 2 weeks, mentioned he’s fearful his dwelling college will carry the change college students again early. “I don’t want to leave. I like it here, and I do still feel safe.”

During the information convention, Guskiewicz apologized to college students who’re “feeling uncertain about your safety right now.”

James, the campus police chief, mentioned it was unclear if the suspect knew the sufferer. He additionally mentioned the weapon has not been discovered.

“We are looking for a firearm. It is too early to determine if the firearm was legally obtained,” he mentioned.

During the lockdown, the college repeatedly despatched alerts urging campus group members to stay sheltered in place.

About two hours after the primary alert went out, officers had been nonetheless arriving in droves, with about 50 police automobiles on the scene and helicopters circling over the college.

It took about an hour and a half to raise the lockdown after the arrest as a result of authorities had been ensuring they’d the precise suspect in custody, James mentioned.

Police additionally had obtained calls round campus about different potential victims and gunshots that wanted to be checked out, he mentioned.

“We had to ensure that the entire campus was safe,” James mentioned.

The constructing the place gunfire broke out is a stone’s throw from the college’s iconic Bell Tower and simply doorways down from the shop that sells college students books and different merchandise.

Classes began at UNC, the nation’s first public college, per week in the past. The college, with about 20,000 undergraduate college students and 12,000 graduate college students, canceled Tuesday lessons.

During the lockdown, a scholar advised TV station WTVD that she had barricaded her dormitory door along with her furnishings. Another scholar, talking softly, described hiding in concern with others in a darkish lavatory.

Noel T. Brewer, a professor of well being habits and a 57-year-old married father of two, advised the AP by cellphone — as he hid with colleagues in his locked workplace throughout the lockdown — that he was as soon as held at gunpoint in his mom’s jewellery retailer, however that Monday’s occasions had been “far more stressful.”