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'Sirens are still ringing in my head' | Community comes together after UNCC shooting

Students, trying to make sense of what happened, came together Wednesday to mourn, heal, and remember as a community.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Campus is wounded at UNC Charlotte, but there was a sea of green and a sense of 49er pride Wednesday night.

Students, trying to make sense of what happened, came together Wednesday to mourn, heal, and remember as a community. 

Charlotte’s Mayor Vi Lyles acknowledged that the community is in shock and grief.

"We know tragedies like this can divide a community or can bring us together. It is our choice of how we move forward," Lyles said. "I believe in this city. It is a time for unity."

Lyles said in the coming days and weeks to come, Charlotteans have to support one another. 

"We're Charlotte," Lyles said. "We're going to open our hearts and our minds. We're going to work hard to rebuild this community -- because we are resilient. We are Charlotte."

Carson Ludwig played high school football with Drew Pescaro, the sports writer who was shot but is said to be out of surgery and stable.

"Hearing that I knew one of the victims made it hit home, you see it on [the] news,"  Ludwig said. "When [you] actually know someone -- it's different, definitely different." 

Counselors were all over campus Wednesday, along with impromptu prayer vigils and a makeshift donation center quickly set up to collect tissues and water.

UNCC Chancellor Philip Dubois said it is a difficult time for the university. 

"This is still very raw for us, and we're working our way through in our community," Dubois said.

The UNCC chancellor says they are doing everything possible to help seniors scheduled to graduate next week graduate on time, despite the tragedy. 

UNCC sent out an email update that all students "will have the opportunity to forego an exam and accept their current grade as their final course grade." 

Additionally, Dubois said that Emily Houpt, a victim of the shooting who is currently recovering, will be able to graduate with peers. 

"We're delighted she'll be there to go across the stage," Dubois said of Houpt, a 23-year-old International Studies student.

Matt Nance, a student, was in the classroom where the suspect attacked. Nance told NBC Charlotte he still can’t believe what happened -- a gunman opened fire during final presentations in his Anthropology class. 

He said his teacher started screaming, yelling at students to get out.

"You never think that's going to happen to you, especially not in your classroom," he said. "Next thing I remembered is everyone screaming."

He made it out, but not all of his classmates were able to. Two 49ers were killed on their last day of classes, four others were hurt. 

The first officer on the scene, a UNCC police officer, helped take down the gunmen after student Riley Howell was fatally shot while attempting to physically confront and stop the shooter, according to CMPD.

"He took the assailant off his feet, and the heroes that we have here were able to apprehend from there," CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said.

In the aftermath, as police worked to secure campus, students were locked out of dorms and separated from friends.

"I always considered it home here but yesterday I was so scared and terrified," a freshman at UNCC told NBC Charlotte.

Despite it all, students say they will get through this together.

"We're a strong family, but it's going be hard and going to take a while," the freshman said.

MORE UNCC SHOOTING COVERAGE 

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Real-time updates: UNC Charlotte shooting

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'They were shouting: shooting, shooting, shooting, run' | Witness describes fatal UNCC campus shooting

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