Local

Witness in classroom said UNCC shooter ‘targeted specific table of people'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 obtained search warrants Thursday morning that detailed what officers said they found inside the apartment of Trystan Terrell, who is accused in the UNC Charlotte shooting.

Terrell was indicted earlier this week on murder, attempted murder and assault charges following the April 30 shooting inside a UNCC classroom that left two students dead and four others injured.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Coverage of UNC Charlotte shooting]

According to the warrants, a search of Terrell’s unit on the third floor of the Novel Noda Apartments on East 36th Street hours after the shooting found paper targets, three handgun magazines, a laptop, six boxes of ammunition and a magazine loader.

Officers said they seized all of the items.

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The warrant also shed light on new details about what happened inside room 236 in the Kennedy Building during the and immediately following the shooting.

During the initial response, a UNCC campus police officer, Sgt. Rick Gundacker, entered the classroom after responding to a 911 call about a shooting, according to the documents. He found several people in the room and yelled to them, asking them to tell him who was shooting.

[ALSO READ: Officer focused on victims after arresting gunman inside UNCC classroom]

“At that time a subject in the room identified himself as the shooter,” the document said. “That person, Trystan Andrew Terrell, is taken into custody and a Glock firearm is recovered. A black leather bag located on Mr. Terrell’s person contained multiple gun magazines.”

A witness, Joshua Ayers, said he was in the classroom, getting ready to make a presentation when he said a man slammed the door open and took out a pistol. Ayers stated that the man walked toward a particular table and began to fire at the people seated there.

He said that’s when everyone started to flee the classroom.

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Ayers told detectives it was apparent to him that the shooter “targeted a specific table of people.”

Students Ellis “Reed” Parlier and Riley Howell were killed in the shooting. Police said Howell tackled Terrell, allowing others to run to safety, before being fatally wounded.

['His sacrifice saved lives': Police say UNCC shooting victim fought gunman]

Terrell had been a student at the university but withdrew before the end of the semester, officials said.