For many students of Asian descent, the initial confusion in identifying and apprehending the wrong person in Monday’s fatal shooting at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill dredged up ever-present fears of racial profiling.
Prior to the arrest of suspect Tailei Qi, who is Chinese, another individual who matched his description was briefly detained, UNC Police Chief Brian James told reporters that evening. The shooting resulted in the death of one faculty member.
James said that the individual’s close proximity and “the description that we were given of the suspect,” led to the error. Local media outlets showed coverage and shared accounts of an Asian man in handcuffs who was later let go.
“We determined very quickly that that was not, in fact, the suspect,” James said.
UNC police did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Asian male students said they feared going outside
“I was a little bit afraid the police couldn’t differentiate me with the killer. If I came outside, I [could] also get handcuffed.”
Johnson Wei, a senior at UNC
Qi, a graduate student at the school, was charged Tuesday with first degree murder and possession of a gun on educational property. UNC police identified Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, as the faculty member who was killed in the shooting.
Before police arrested Qi after an hour and a half search, those of Asian descent, particularly men, said they had already been grappling with multiple layers of fear — worried not only for their safety from the gunman, but also of being profiled as the suspect by authorities. Many others wondered if the shooting would prompt misplaced blame on them from their peers. Johnson Wei, a 21-year-old Chinese international student, said he and his Asian male friends on campus were terrified to step outside in public.
“We are all international Chinese. Sometimes I wear contacts but the other day I wore glasses. So I was a…
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