Accused UNC-Chapel Hill gunman to plead insanity in professor’s 2023 murder
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge finds accused mentally fit; re-evaluation set for June 16.
- Defense plans insanity plea; Central Regional report and prior commitment noted.
- Shooting sparked a three-hour lockdown, new training and $750,000 payout.
A man accused of killing a UNC-Chapel Hill professor in 2023 has been found mentally fit to stand trial, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.
Tailei Qi, 37, is accused of first-degree murder in the death of UNC physics professor Zijie Yan, who was shot with a 9 mm handgun on the afternoon of Aug. 28, 2023, at UNC’s Caudill Laboratories on campus.
A Central Regional Hospital mental health report was submitted to the court earlier this month.
If Qi is convicted of first-degree murder, he could face life in prison. A misdemeanor charge of possessing a firearm on educational property was dismissed in September 2023.
Qi, assisted by a Mandarin language interpreter, responded quietly with short answers to Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour’s questions during Wednesday’s short hearing. Orange County Public Defender Dana Graves said Qi will plead insanity to the charges.
He will be re-evaluated at Central Regional based on that defense and return for another court hearing June 16.
Murder prompts UNC safety changes
The murder of Yan, a professor at UNC since 2019, put the campus into a three-hour lockdown as fall semester classes were starting while law enforcement searched for the gunman.
The shooting shocked town residents and the campus community, prompting a review of campus training and safety procedures. The N&O reported that despite a 2020 audit that recommended active-shooter training for faculty, staff and students, no policy was in place prior to Yan’s murder.
UNC officials implemented an emergency training requirement for faculty prior to the start of the 2024 fall semester.
The state also paid a $750,000 wrongful death claim last year filed by Yan’s wife and children that said UNC bore some responsibility for Yan’s death.
What did investigators learn about shooting
A witness told investigators that Qi, a graduate student who worked in Yan’s lab in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, argued with Yan before the shots were fired, according to federal warrants.
The witness also reported seeing Qi walk by the laboratories with a gun in his hand after the shots were fired. Police arrested Qi a short time later near his Chapel Hill apartment.
Warrants show investigators tracked the gun that may have been used in the murder to a person in the Charlotte area. The person identified Qi as the man who bought a Glock 43X from them a few days before the shooting, warrants state.
Qi told investigators that he was at the lab that morning but went home after learning about a shooter on campus. He denied owning a handgun but told investigators he rented one to shoot at a firing range with an instructor two weeks before the shooting, the federal warrants state.
The gun used in Yan’s shooting has not been recovered.
Warrants show Qi listed Yan as his emergency contact in paperwork that he filled out at the range. Qi also admitted to improperly accessing a female student’s email account that allowed him to access and download the student’s emails, warrants state.
Qi, a Chinese national who was in the United States on a F-1 student visa, was not legally allowed to possess a firearm.
He was declared mentally unfit to stand trial for the murder in November 2023 because of untreated schizophrenia. He was committed to Central Regional Hospital for treatment.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 10:24 AM.
