Who is Trystan Terrell? Suspect charged in deadly UNC Charlotte shooting

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Authorities arrested a man Tuesday after shots rang out at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, killing two people and wounding four others.

Authorities on Wednesday formally charged Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22, with two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, possessing and firing a weapon on educational property and assault with a deadly weapon.

Campus Police Chief Jeff Baker said authorities received a report around 5:40 p.m. Tuesday that several students had been shot in a classroom building. Officers assembling nearby for a concert rushed to the building and arrested the gunman in the room where the shooting took place, Baker said.

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Here’s what we know about Terrell:

Terrell was a student at UNCC

Officials told WSOC-TV that Terrell was a student at UNCC. His grandfather, Paul Rold of Arlington, Texas, also confirmed to The Associated Press that Terrell was a UNCC student.

Terrell studied history at UNCC, Greenville News reported, citing the university's advising system.

Authorities said he withdrew from classes this semester.

Terrell was not known to police

Baker told reporters Terrell was “not somebody on our radar” before Tuesday’s shooting.

Terrell moved to Charlotte about two years ago

Rold told the AP that Terrell moved to Charlotte with his father about two years ago. They had moved from the Dallas area after the death of Terrell's mother, Rold said.

Family members said Terrell showed no interest in weapons

Rold told the AP he was stunned to hear his grandson, who never showed interest in guns or other weapons, might have been involved in Tuesday's shooting.

"You're describing something foreign to me," he told an AP reporter in a telephone interview Tuesday. "This is not in his DNA."

Terrell expected in court Thursday

Terrell is scheduled to make his first appearance in court Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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