Two separate shootings tore through homecoming weekend at Winston-Salem State University on Saturday night, leaving a 19-year-old man dead and three other people wounded, according to police. Officers who were already on campus for the celebrations heard the first gunshots themselves — and by Sunday, a 20-year-old man was in custody on a murder charge. The university cancelled the rest of its homecoming events as investigators worked to determine whether the two shootings were connected.
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| Winston-Salem State University, founded in 1892, is a historically Black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. |
A Night of Celebration Turns Violent
Winston-Salem State University, a historically Black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was in the middle of its homecoming weekend on Saturday, November 7, 2026, when the violence broke out. Homecoming is one of the biggest weekends of the year at the school, drawing students, alumni and visitors to campus for football, parades and reunions.
Police officers were already stationed on campus for the homecoming events when the first shots rang out. According to the Winston-Salem Police Department, officers heard gunfire at about 9:45 p.m. and rushed to the scene, where they found a 19-year-old man with a gunshot wound.
Officers gave the young man first aid at the scene, but he died from his injuries. He was later identified in reports as Peyton Patterson, 19. A 22-year-old woman was also wounded in the first shooting and was taken to hospital, where she was treated and later released, according to reports.
Police said the first shooting followed an argument between two groups of people. Assistant Police Chief Jason Swaim told reporters that detectives determined the shooting was an isolated incident, though he stressed that the circumstances were still under investigation.
A Second Shooting Less Than an Hour Later
The night was not over. Less than an hour after the first shooting, officers heard gunfire again — this time at about 10:22 p.m., near Victory Circle and Cromartie Street on campus.
When officers arrived, they found two more gunshot victims: Najir Pearsall, a 21-year-old man, and Makyiah Ward, a 20-year-old woman. Both were taken for medical treatment. Police later stopped a vehicle connected to that incident, but as of Sunday afternoon no arrests had been made in the second shooting.
Investigators said they had not yet determined whether the two shootings were related. "At this point, the investigation is still very early in its preliminary stages," Swaim said, according to reports. Chief William Penn Jr. vowed at a news conference that authorities would find everyone responsible for the violence at the school.
The university placed the campus on lockdown during the night, but the lockdown was later lifted. Extra officers remained on campus on Sunday as the investigation continued.
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| A Winston-Salem Police Department patrol car. Winston-Salem police officers were already on campus for homecoming events when the first shots were fired. |
The Arrest
On Sunday, police announced the first arrest in the case. Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, was taken into custody in connection with the first shooting and charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm on educational property. He is being held without bond.
Police confirmed that Spinks was not a student at Winston-Salem State University. According to NBC News, court records show he already had two cases pending in North Carolina: a Randolph County case involving charges of carrying a concealed weapon and marijuana possession from an arrest in March, and a Guilford County indictment in October on charges of felony conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
It was not immediately clear whether Spinks had a lawyer, and police said the investigation into both shootings was continuing. No charges had been announced in the second shooting as of Sunday afternoon.
"Senseless Violence"
University leaders moved quickly to condemn the shootings and to reassure a shaken campus. Chancellor Bonita J. Brown issued a statement on Sunday morning calling the shootings "senseless violence," and the university cancelled the remaining homecoming activities scheduled for Sunday.
The decision to cut the weekend short was a painful one for a campus that had been celebrating. Homecoming at historically Black colleges and universities is a major tradition, and the weekend had drawn large crowds to Winston-Salem. Instead, Sunday became a day of mourning and heightened security, with additional officers patrolling the campus and investigators appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Police asked anyone with information about either shooting to contact the Winston-Salem Police Department.
A Familiar Pattern
The Winston-Salem shootings came about two weeks after another homecoming weekend turned violent in the South. On October 26, a shooting near Florida A&M University's homecoming celebrations in Tallahassee left 11 people shot, including six children. That shooting, like the one at Winston-Salem State, took place during a weekend meant to bring a university community together.
The back-to-back incidents have renewed questions about security at large campus events, where crowds of students, alumni and visitors mix with people from outside the university. At Winston-Salem State, the suspect in the first shooting was not a student — a detail that has become common in campus shootings, where the violence often involves visitors rather than members of the university community.
For now, the university has said little beyond its condemnation of the violence and its cooperation with police. Classes and campus life are expected to resume under the shadow of the investigation, with the campus community waiting for answers about the second shooting and about how a celebratory weekend ended in gunfire twice in a single night.
What This Means
The shootings at Winston-Salem State highlight a difficult reality for American universities: even with officers on site and a campus on alert for a major event, gun violence can erupt in minutes. The first shooting happened in front of officers who were already there for homecoming, and the second followed less than an hour later, in a different part of the campus.
The case also underscores how quickly a single argument can turn deadly when a gun is present. According to police, the first shooting grew out of an argument between two groups — and a 19-year-old lost his life. The suspect now faces a murder charge and, according to court records cited by NBC News, was already facing serious charges in two other North Carolina counties.
For Winston-Salem State, a historically Black university with a proud homecoming tradition, the weekend will be remembered not for the celebration but for the violence that ended it. The university's swift cancellation of the remaining events and its condemnation of the shootings signal an institution trying to protect its students while the police investigation continues.
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| Moore Hall, a residence hall on the Winston-Salem State University campus. (Winston-Salem State University photo) |
What Happens Next
The immediate focus is on the investigation. Police are still working to determine whether the two shootings were connected and who was responsible for the second one, in which two people were wounded and no one has yet been arrested. Detectives are reviewing evidence from both scenes and from the vehicle stopped in connection with the second shooting.
Spinks is expected to appear in court, where a judge will consider the murder and weapons charges against him and whether he should remain held without bond. Prosecutors will also have to decide how to proceed with his earlier pending cases in Randolph and Guilford counties.
The university, meanwhile, faces its own reckoning. Campus leaders will have to review how security was handled during homecoming and whether changes are needed for future large events. For the families of the victims — a 19-year-old who never made it home from homecoming, and three others recovering from gunshot wounds — the questions are simpler and harder: who did this, and why.
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