‘We did not feel like we were going to make it out’: Black students recount terrifying UNC campus attack
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An intruder entered a UNC classroom during a “Love Island” watch party, threw objects at students and allegedly brandished a makeshift incendiary device.
An evening of community and entertainment turned terrifying for dozens of Black students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this week after an intruder entered a campus watch party, made racially charged threats and appeared to brandish a makeshift incendiary device.
According to The Daily Tar Heel’s report, the man entered Greenlaw Hall on Monday night while roughly 80 to 100 students — predominantly Black first-year students — were gathered for a “Love Island” watch party hosted by several Black student organizations.
What initially appeared to be an ordinary interruption quickly escalated.
Students said the man threw a box of chips at two students before reaching into a bag and producing an object that resembled a gun. The item was later believed to be an aerosol can and lighter. Students also reported smelling a chemical odor and hearing a loud bang, prompting many to flee the classroom.
“I think it’s safe to say that most, if not all, the students in the room felt like our lives were threatened,” Samuel Scarborough, senior adviser for the Black Student Movement, told the Daily Tar Heel. “We did not feel like we were going to make it out of that room alive.”
UNC first-year student Mariana Prieto, who was hit by the bag of chips, described the experience simply: “Honestly, I was so terrified. I was shaking most of the time.”
The man allegedly continued harassing students after leaving the building, including in the Pit, before eventually being detained by UNC Police. Authorities said he showed signs of mental distress and was hospitalized. Police intend to charge him with disorderly conduct, vandalism, damage to property and aggravated assault once he is medically cleared.
But for student leaders, the incident also raised questions about the university’s emergency response.
UNC did not issue an Alert Carolina notification, saying there was no ongoing threat to campus safety. Scarborough disagreed with that assessment, arguing that the lack of an alert “could have jeopardized the safety not only of Black students but all the students on campus because people didn’t know what was going on.”
The Black student organizations involved plan to meet with university administrators about preventing a similar incident.
And despite the fear, Black Student Movement President Makhi Nash said the goal remains to protect the community spaces students have created for themselves.
“At the heart of the Black Student Movement and the heart of being at Carolina, we’re going to stand together and continue to foster spaces where Black students can be in community and not feel scared,” Nash said. “He came in and he did what he did, but he will not win.”