UNC Charlotte Announces How It Will Honor April 30th Shooting Victims

CHARLOTTE, NC. — UNC Charlotte announcing Thursday how it will honor the victims of the April 30th campus tragedy.

A gunman opened fire inside Kennedy 236. Riley Howell and Reed Parlier were killed. Drew Pescaro was shot in his lower back, an inch from his spine. Three others were hurt.

“Just being able to kind of live with it, but not let it define me,” says Pescaro.

A statement from Chancellor Philip Dubois outlines that classroom 236, as well as an adjoining room, will no longer be used for classes. The space will be reconfigured and repurposed. There will also be a contemplative space inside the Kennedy building.

“Just kind of pause and take in what happened there. Maybe learn something from it.”

There will also be a permanent memorial and reflection space in Belk Plaza outside the Kennedy building. It will recognize Parlier and Howell by name and acknowledge students who were wounded.

“Hopefully they’ll be able to memorialize them in a way where we can remember them as people, not just these two victims.”

For the first anniversary this April, the university’s Atkins Library will have a temporary exhibit of items that were collected and preserved by the school’s archives department. Like notes, candles and painted rocks left at several makeshift memorials days after the shooting.

April 30th, 2020 will be an annual  Day of Remembrance. There are no classes scheduled. There will be on-campus activities to allow students and staff to support each other.

The university will host a Remembrance Concert for the campus in the Belk Theater at the Blumenthal Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are limited and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Proceeds will benefit the April 30 Remembrance Fund.