Qualla: 2006 Chapel Hill Vehicle Ramming Attack

2006 Chapel Hill Vehicle Ramming Attack: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit PerryPlanet, CC0. The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a sunken brick courtyard at the center of the older part of campus, bracketed by the student bookstore, the student union, the dining hall, and the libraries - a high-traffic crossroads where students gather between classes, where activists set up tables, and where afternoon sunlight collects in the spring. On the afternoon of March 3, 2006, the metal barricades that normally kept vehicles out were not in place. At about 11:50 a.m. a silver 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee, rented two days earlier, came down the narrow service road and accelerated into the Pit. It struck nine pedestrians before reaching the other side.

Image: PerryPlanet | CC0

2006 Chapel Hill Vehicle Ramming Attack: The Nine

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit (User:Wgreaves), CC BY-SA 3.0. No one was killed. Six of the nine struck pedestrians were taken to UNC Hospitals, treated for injuries that ranged from contusions to a fractured leg, and released the same day or the next. The other three declined transport at the scene. Witnesses estimated the SUV's top speed ...

Image: (User:Wgreaves) | CC BY-SA 3.0

2006 Chapel Hill Vehicle Ramming Attack: The 911 Call

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mx. Granger, CC0. Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar drove to a nearby city street, called 911, and calmly confessed to police that he had just attacked students with his vehicle. He told the dispatcher his location and asked to be arrested. He told the dispatcher that the reasons were in a letter on his b...

Image: Mx. Granger | CC0

2006 Chapel Hill Vehicle Ramming Attack: An Unfamiliar Profile

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit (User:Wgreaves), CC BY-SA 3.0. Taheri-azar was born in Tehran in May 1983 and moved to the United States at age two. He grew up in Charlotte with his mother and sisters, attended South Mecklenburg High School - where he was a socially awkward honor student and the yearbook nicknamed him "South's Speedster" - a...

Image: (User:Wgreaves) | CC BY-SA 3.0

2006 Chapel Hill Vehicle Ramming Attack: Charges, Plea, and the Reclaimed Pit

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ildar Sagdejev (Specious), CC BY-SA 4.0. Taheri-azar was charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder. He insisted on representing himself in early hearings, telling an Orange County judge he looked forward to "sharing the will of Allah." The FBI joined the investigation. UNC Chancellor James Moeser, in an ...

Image: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious) | CC BY-SA 4.0