The graduate student accused of killing his professor in a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had complained about the victim online in the lead-up to the attack.
Tailei Qi, a PhD student majoring in applied physical sciences, was arrested and booked into Orange County Sheriff’s Office jail on a first-degree murder charge for fatally shooting Zijie Yan, the head of the Department of Applied Sciences.
In court on Tuesday, he was ordered to be held without bond and is expected to appear for his next hearing on 18 September.
Authorities said during Mr Qi’s court hearing that a 9mm was used in the shooting.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear but Mr Qi’s social media reveals he had complained about his head of lab in the lead-up to the shooting.
In other posts, he also railed against hard work, “girls and tattletales” and complained about bullies in the US.
“Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time,” he wrote in a post in August 2022, reviewed by The Independent.