Why he did it

News & Observer:

A UNC-Chapel Hill graduate told investigators he intentionally drove into a crowd of students on campus Friday to “avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world,” UNC Police Chief Derek Poarch said Saturday.

Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, told detectives to go to the Carrboro apartment he shared with two other men, saying authorities would find evidence there that would explain his decision to hurt students. Poarch declined to say what, if anything, was found, but emphasized that Taheri-azar appears to have acted alone.

I knew I heard an explosion (New & Observer):

Authorities used some sort of explosive to get into Taheri-azar’s apartment in the University Commons complex in Carrboro on Friday. Charred fragments of molding and siding surrounded the doorway Saturday, while debris, including a white plastic kitchen trash can, latex gloves, hinges, glass and pieces of a doorknob littered the landing. The door itself, blackened and warped, leaned backward into the foyer, leaving the inside of the four-bedroom apartment open to view. Neither of Taheri-azar’s two roommates appeared to be home.

And thank goodness the news helicopters are gone.

Jeffrey L Cohen

Jeffrey L Cohen