Faculty at UNC are pressing leadership and campus police for answers after a man came onto campus and hurled racial slurs at students earlier this week.
Police say Keegan Wilson interrupted a Love Island watch party in Greenlaw Hall, hosted by several predominantly Black student groups on campus. Around 80 to 100 students were believed to be in attendance.
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First-year Samantha Hamilton said her suitemate was there when it unfolded and called her immediately after leaving the building.
"She was out of breath, saying how they heard three big booms, and that they had to run out of Greenlaw. It was very scary, because when I think of booms, I think of a gun," Hamilton said.
Students and faculty claimed there was no Alert Carolina! message shared school-wide, addressing the incident.
UNC Police Chief Brian James said the reason there was not an alert sent immediately was because of how long it takes for a system-wide alert to be approved, noting the suspect was taken into custody in about 17 minutes.
"He was in custody and there was no longer a threat to campus," Chief James said. "What I don't want to happen is, we're sending out multiple alerts all the time about everything, and then, when it pops up, I really need you to pay attention to it. You're like, 'Oh, this is another Alert Carolina message.'"
Faculty pushed back, citing previous uses of the alert system.
"This was a little bit of an abandonment for what we've experienced in the past. We've had other alerts where there's a threat, and the threat was neutralized, and then an information alert went out," said Keisha Gibson with UNC School of Medicine.
Mark Peifer with UNC's Department of Biology said staff did receive information about the incident until Wednesday.
"This is an incident where 80 to 100 of our students thought there was an imminent threat to their lives. They were ducking under their desks," Peifer said. "This is, from my perspective, the most serious incident we've had on campus since when a gun was drawn and someone was killed."
On Friday, Chief James said they learned Wilson had been spotted on campus in another building earlier Monday. Police were not called.
Chancellor Lee Roberts said investigators do not believe this was a racially motivated incident, claiming Wilson seemed to be roaming around campus "without much particular intent," calling him a "mentally ill individual."
"He expressed some thoughts that were concerning, thoughts that tend to lead to an involuntary commitment for mental health," Chief James said. "It's hard to gauge what his intent was, but certainly what happened was awful."
Wilson is said to be receiving mental health care. He has not formally been charged yet.