UNC Shooting Victim

<p>Thank you sdj for that link. We all need to take time to remember these words daily.

[quote]
"Think about this moment," she'd say. "This day and this moment, this is the best day of our lives right now."</p>

<p>You know who would love that quote? Roy Williams. He would love the idea that a college student recognized that the best days of her life--the best days of all of our lives--were not a few months away at graduation or back in high school or that time you threw the winning pass in the playoffs. He would love the idea of relishing this exact moment right now.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I just now had a chance to read that. Thanks sdj13, for providing that link, and mkm56 for pulling out that quote. You're right.</p>

<p>If you go to Raleigh</a> Chronicle there is an enhanced color photo of the guy at the ATM machine. It is a really good picture, so I hope someone recognizes him. They have this enhanced photo on CNN and Fox news today.</p>

<p>alcook4u: Yes, they showed that last night on the local news. This is definitely a much, much clearer picture, so hopefully someone will turn him in soon.</p>

<p>What is this about gangs in Chapel Hill? Can anyone weigh in on that?</p>

<p>There are no Chapel Hill gangs, they are all based in Durham......they were the reason that a long-time Chapel Hill festival was canceled last year.</p>

<p>Chapel Hill had not had a murder before this since 1995 I believe.....it really is the bucolic place you think it is......Durham on the other hand is VERY different.</p>

<p>Distance between the two towns? As I recall, they are very close.</p>

<p>Eight miles between Duke and UNC but you literally drive out either of the two main roads into Chapel Hill and you are in Durham. The interstate is between the two but I think the actual city limits may be on the Chapel Hill side of the interstate, can one of you locals correct me if I am wrong on this?</p>

<p>i guess the distance is like 20-30 miles :???</p>

<p>A Raleigh paper actually wrote an article about this a few days ago. The last murder of a student in Chapel Hill was in 1995, by a law student who (I think) was bipolar and off his meds, found not guilty by reason of insanity. He walked down the street with a gun, injuring several people and killing 2 (one was a student at UNC, a lacrosse player by the name of Kevin Reichardt; the other a Chapel Hill resident). This law student, Wendell Williamson, has been housed at a mental institution in Raleigh ever since. </p>

<p>In the summer of 1993, a woman was killed in Chapel Hill while jogging in town, early one morning. Not a student, but married to a business school student.</p>

<p>In the summer 1985, 2 female students who were taking summer classes at UNC and were abducted from Swain Hall parking lot. One was let go; the other was found murdered a week later. Her killer is spending life in prison.</p>

<p>In the summer of 1965, Sue Ellen Evans was stabbed to death in broad daylight while walking through Coker Arboretum. That remains an unsolved case.</p>

<p>Those are the murder cases over the last 40+ years. Contrast that with Durham, where somebody gets shot every night of the week, it seems-- though mostly not students (well, except for the recent graduate student death). Gangs are prevalent in Durham. This has never been the case in Chapel Hill, though eadad is right that the Apple Chill had to be cancelled indefinitely, because gangs were coming over from Durham. I'm not sure why Durham can't clean up its mess.</p>

<p>The last devastating event in recent memory at UNC, though, was the fire (from a cigarette left burning) at the frat house on May 12 (the night before graduation) that killed 5 students (graduating seniors, as I remember) and injured several more. That left an indelible memory on a lot of people. All frat/sorority houses now have sprinkler systems installed.</p>

<p>And now this.</p>

<p>newsobserver.com</a> | A campus in mourning</p>

<p>The distance between UNC and Duke is only about 8 miles, but you are correct that the towns are closer than that. You can cross over from Orange County (where Chapel Hill is located) to Durham County in a matter of minutes.</p>

<p>wow...thanks janieblue...for the short form of the letter.</p>

<p>o wow...thats close.....then the criminals must assume that duke...being a private college..attracts richer ppl...and thus all those criminals are just gathered up at durham....
When I was in India, I used to think that as there much less "bribing the police" and stuff going in US...there would be much less crime...
I was completely wrong....i would rarely ever hear abt murders in India...and over here it a normal thing. Its probably because guns are easily obtained in US...</p>

<p>vickpick: I don't think all that crime in Durham has much to do with Duke. I was asking my uncle recently, who grew up in the area, and played football (who is now 87) what Durham's problem seems to be. He said it had always been dangerous, from as far back as he could remember. When his high school football team would go to play Durham high school, they were given serious talks about staying safe in Durham. </p>

<p>It's a real shame, because Durham has a plus side, including Duke and all it offers and world-class Duke Hospitals/Medical Center, the Nasher Museum (on Duke's campus); a big art scene; serious home to the Blues; home to the Full-Frame Documentary Festival every year (coming up); it's politically very liberal, so that's a plus in my book; some great restaurants and bookstores-- but they have a very serious crime problem there, too. No doubt about it. I'm not sure what the problem is. Durham is definitely poorer than its neighbors, and I guess that's related. I don't really know. I do know that I don't travel to downtown Durham once the sun goes down (and I'm not joking).</p>

<p>And, yes, guns are a real problem in this country.</p>

<p>haha...i like the i'm not joking part...
thanks for info...
so now when i am in UNC dorm....i wont think of going to meet my cuz at duke during nights or evenings...
do you gangs are a problem in durham..?</p>

<p>vickpick</p>

<p>You might have been thinking about Raleigh which is the town farthest away in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Research Triangle and is between 20 and 30 miles from Chapel Hill as I recall.</p>

<h2>"I do know that I don't travel to Durham once the sun goes down (and I'm not joking."</h2>

<p>I second this one. In August, I drove ldgirl from Houston to Chapel Hill, and my husband flew in on the same day so we could help her with dorm move-in. She and I retrieved him at the airport at about midnight on a night when I-40 was practically closed for road construction. To avoid the construction we took Hwy 70 from the Airport into Durham and tried to hook up with Hwy 15 which we thought would turn into 15-501. Instead, we got lost...wandering around tiny rundown roads in the worst Durham neighborhoods at 1 a.m. trying to find our way out. </p>

<p>We have lived in Houston for 20 years, consider ourselves hardcore urban folk.... and we were still more than a little unnerved. I've been told since then, that was a terribly foolish thing to do.</p>

<p>If you ARE going to Duke, always take the Robertson shuttle bus.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the info Janie. I don't know the area (Durham) real well as I live in western NC. However, son's roommate last year was from Durham. His tales of growing up in Durham made your hair stand on end. He talked of all the violence problems in his high school and how his goal was to stay under the radar and not attract attention.</p>

<p>Let's see...Janie asked why Durham hasn't been cleaned up.....well the recent DA was oh so competent and honest.....;).</p>

<p>Eadad....robertson shuttle bus(im not familiar with any campus transportation at that area)...is that bus safe...as in..are "outsiders" allowed on the bus?
outsiders as in residents...who may be criminals..</p>