It was the last day of classes at UNC Charlotte. In classrooms around the campus on Tuesday night, students gave their final presentations or turned in the last projects of the semester. Others headed to the school’s nearby stadium, where a Waka Flocka Flame concert had been scheduled to celebrate the occasion.
Instead, UNCC became the site of the 35th mass shooting in the U.S. in April alone, after a man with a pistol opened fire on the campus, killing two people and injuring four others, reports CNN.
A suspect, 22-year-old Trystan Tyrell, was apprehended and identified by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police after the campus spent hours in lockdown.
In one chilling—and telling—detail, CNN writes that as police led him away from the campus in handcuffs, the suspect “tilted his head back and smiled at the cameras.”
According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, he was booked Tuesday night on two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and two additional weapons charges.
UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois said the school would share the identities of the two people killed in the mass shooting once their families had been notified.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement from campus late Tuesday pledging state support to everyone affected by the school shooting, BuzzFeed reports.
“We know the coming days, weeks, and months will be very difficult for students and families,” Cooper told reporters. “We know that for many people here, this will be the worst day of their lives.”