A photo shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, allegedly shows a screenshot of a Fox News chyron reporting that the suspected University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shooter is a “mostly white Asian male.” 

“Mostly White Asian Male”
This is why Fox News is dead to me pic.twitter.com/tt0O0qrUIF

— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) August 29, 2023

Verdict: False

The claim is inaccurate. The image is fake and did not air on Fox News, a spokesperson for the news outlet confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact.

Fact Check: 

A man fatally shot a faculty member on UNC’s campus on Monday, according to CNN. This man has been identified as Tailei Qi, a graduate student at the school, and has been charged with first-degree murder and booked at Orange County Detention Center, CBS News reports.

A photo claims to show a Fox News broadcast with a headshot of the suspect. “Shooter described as ‘mostly white Asian male,'” the text allegedly reads.

‘”Mostly White Asian Male,'” the post’s caption reads. “This is why Fox News is dead to me.” (RELATED: Did Fox News Air A Newscast Showing Brittney Griner With Facial Hair?)

This photo is digitally fabricated, however. The genuine Fox News broadcast can be seen on YouTube. The actual chyron reads, “UNC police release picture of person of interest.” Check Your Fact found no credible news reports with text matching the chyron. 

“This is fake and did not air on FOX News,” a Fox News spokesperson told Check Your Fact in an email.

An article from Fox News about the shooting described the suspect as “an Asian man in a gray shirt,” not as a “mostly white Asian male.” The tweet cited in the article also does not have that description.

This is not the first time a news outlet has been falsely accused of editing details about a shooting suspect. Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim in May 2022 when a photoshopped image of the shooting suspect in the Uvalde Elementary School shooting circulated on social media.