A week after a violent attack shook the campus at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, details continue to emerge concerning the confessed culprit of the incident-recent UNC graduate Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar.
UNC Police Department Detective Matthew Dodson interviewed Taheri-azar after he drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee through the Pit, a central gathering place on campus, injuring nine pedestrians. In the interview, Taheri-azar confessed that he has been planning retribution against the U.S. government for as long as two years and began planning the March 3 attack two months ago.
According to court documents released Tuesday, the suspect also expressed disappointment that more students were not in the Pit when he drove through it.
When Taheri-azar was arrested, he had a five-inch folding knife and two cans of pepper spray with him, additional search warrant documents revealed.
At the time, the suspect told police that he was acting to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world." In court Monday, he thanked Judge Pat DeVine for "the opportunity to spread the will of Allah."
Taheri-azar is currently being held in Central Prison in Raleigh under a $5.5-million bond. He is being charged with 18 felony counts-including nine counts of attempted first-degree murder-and if convicted, he could face up to 150 years in jail.
Many students have said the shock of the incident has left a residual paranoia among those on UNC's campus. Despite a heightened sense of security, however, students added that people are coping with the attack and continuing on with everyday life.
"It was a serious situation, but at the same time, I'd like to think it was a one-time situation and it's not going to happen again," UNC sophomore Nadeen Elhaddad said. "The situation would be much more severe and the feeling on campus would be a lot different than what it is now [if someone had died]."
Other students suggested that the people who are taking it most seriously are those who want to make it a political issue.
"The groups that have taken this most to heart are those who want to have it labeled as a terrorist act," UNC senior Ralph D'Iorio said. "So, it's more like some people want to see it made into a big deal."
Students gathered near the scene of the violence Monday to stage a rally against the administration's decision.
Despite continued protests urging the administration to declare the act "terrorism," both UNC officials and law enforcement have remained hesitant to do so.
"The university is politically correct and doesn't want to offend anyone of the Muslim faith," UNC senior Kris Wampler, who helped organize the rally with UNC College Republicans, told The Chronicle Monday.
"We needed this protest to urge the university to treat this attack as what it was: terrorism."
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