The man accused of shooting and killing a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in August is currently unfit to stand trial, a judge ruled Monday. 

The judge said mental health evaluations by both prosecutors and the defense found that the case against Qi would not be able to go to trial given the suspect's current mental state, according to court officials. 

Qi, 34, faces a first-degree murder charge in the Aug. 28 shooting of Zijie Yan. Prosecutors say Qi killed Yan, a professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, in Caudill Labs on UNC's campus.

The shooting locked down the university for hours as police searched for the suspect. 

Qi has been held without bail in the Orange County jail since his arrest on the day of the shooting, jail records show. He will now be taken to Central Regional Hospital in Butner for treatment, a court official said.

The ruling does not mean Qi is not guilty by reason of insanity. That is a separate legal process.