UNC Charlotte honors victims to mark six years since campus shooting

CHARLOTTE — The UNC Charlotte Niner community gathered Wednesday morning to remember the lives of Reed Parlier and Riley Howell six years after a deadly shooting rocked the campus.

On April 30, 2019, 21-year-old Howell and 19-year-old Parlier were killed when someone opened fire on campus. Howell died after charging at the shooter while trying to protect other students from him. Four students survived after being hurt in the attack.

In the years since, the university community has remembered their sacrifice by laying wreaths outside the Kennedy Building.

That tradition continued Wednesday with a ceremony that began at 8:30 a.m.

Today marks six years since UNC Charlotte students Riley Howell and Reed Parlier were killed by a gunman on campus. The university is honoring them with a wreath laying ceremony. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/ECKB6y4yzI
— Eli Brand (@EliBrandTV) April 30, 2025

“This day is really important because it lets the university come together and remember the lives of Reid and Riley and all the survivors and people who were affected,” said Sunnya Hadavi, a student at UNC Charlotte.

Hadavi got her undergraduate degree from UNC Charlotte and is currently working on her master’s degree. She arrived on campus one year after the tragedy, but she says she’s worked to learn more about it.

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“It made me want to be more active in everything that is happening on our campus, whether that is remembering the people involved or just learning how the university is supporting the university at large,” Hadavi said. “Once you learn that it’s close by and it’s at home, it means a lot more.”

The hope for students is that this remembrance will take place for years to come.

The shooter was convicted in 2019 and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

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