UNC Charlotte students say they didn’t get an alert about two recent gun incidents on campus
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Two people were arrested for bringing guns on UNC Charlotte’s campus in separate incidents within one week.
Police say one of the incidents involved a woman threatening someone with a gun in a parking garage, the other involves a man with a long rap sheet that was caught with a gun on campus and accused of running away from police. In both cases, students say they would have appreciated some kind of alert about weapons on campus.
Records show 23-year-old Destiny Carr was charged with carrying a firearm on educational property, armed terror to the public and carrying a concealed gun after an altercation in a parking garage on March 15. Officers say a witness reported a person with a gun in the East Deck 3 around 10 a.m. that morning.
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When the police arrived, the officer checked the video cameras, which they say captured Carr getting out of her car with a gun chasing after another car. Police say she put the gun back in her pocket and drove off. Carr spent less than 12 hours in the Mecklenburg County Detention Center on a $15,000 bond on March 20.
Students say they would have appreciated a notification of the incident. It’s been five years since two students were killed on campus.
“I think at least knowing if somebody is being apprehended even after the fact so it can deter people in the future,” said Tahlya Mock, a UNC Charlotte master’s student. “I think it would have been better to know that this happened recently twice through an email from the school rather than [Queen City News] coming to speak to me.”
The other incident involved 24-year-old Ryan Briones, but the details of the incident aren’t as clear as Carr’s. Court papers show Briones is facing charges for possession of a gun on educational property for an incident that happened March 19. He is also facing second-degree trespassing and resisting a public officer for allegedly attempting to run away from the officer arresting him.
“We have signs that say [no guns] and that’s a great that the sign is there,” Mock said. “As somebody who doesn’t have a gun and doesn’t have plan on bringing mine to campus, it doesn’t really affect me. I’m sure somebody who’s extremely opposite of me, it doesn’t probably affect them.”
Briones spent less than 12 hours in Mecklenburg County Detention Center on a $4,000 bond. In 2024 alone, Briones is accused of at least three more offenses, including breaking and entering.
“I don’t think there’s anything the school can do,” Alyssa Brady, another master’s student, said. “It’s really federal law and gun control laws and really cracking down on that. Because until that happens, I mean, anything can happen on campus because people are allowed to have guns.”
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Some students say they are desensitized to gun-related incidents because of their frequency in current events.
“I was on campus (five) years ago when the actual school shooting happened, then we also had a scare a couple of weeks ago where I think it took 30 minutes for the police to respond to a gun threat on campus,” Brady said. “So every time I hear that, especially living in America, I’m just like, you know, it’s another day.”
University officials did not respond to requests for comment on this incident or an explanation of why students weren’t given an alert about weapons on campus.
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