This story was updated at 5:27 p.m.
Students were released from Forsyth Technical Community College’s campus this afternoon after a lockdown.
Winston-Salem police tweeted that they received a report of a shooting at Forsyth Tech around 10:10 a.m. At a press conference at 3 p.m., Captain Shelly Lovejoy told reporters there was never an “active shooter situation.”
“We did identify one victim that was transported to a local facility for treatment of a non-life-threatening injury. This is an active investigation. We're still trying to determine exactly how we came to be at Forsyth Tech and what generated this particular situation,” she said.
At a later press conference, Lovejoy said an 18-year-old Winston-Salem high school student has been identified as the victim of a self-inflicted gun wound to the hand. It was unclear if it was intentional or accidental.
Campus was shut down for hours during the day while police patrolled the halls. Meanwhile, students were locked in classrooms.
Among them was Early College of Forsyth County tenth-grader Adrienne Williams. She says she was in her English class when she was alerted to the threat.
"Right before we were about to leave, our assistant principal comes running through the halls saying, 'Hey, active shooter alert. Forsyth Tech just told us. Get into classrooms.' And they start pushing everyone who was like, not in a class, anyone, anyone in the hallways. They were pushing them inside classrooms."
Parents and guardians of students were directed to the nearby Armory, home to the North Carolina Army National Guard’s readiness center. Fifty or more of them gathered to wait for news while their children were interviewed by police. Students began being released from buildings on campus shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Davian Hernandez says it was a challenging situation.
"I tried to be calm most of the time and tried to help others that were sad, crying and all that stuff — praying for them and always just trying to stay calm, trying to be the one people can look at and you know, just stay calm," he says.
Students from at least two nearby school districts were also on the community college campus Thursday for a trip. All of those students were safe and accounted for, the districts said in statements.
Forsyth Tech classes on all campuses are canceled through the end of the week.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
We can confirm there is no active shooter on the campus of Forsyth Tech. There is still an active investigation on the campus. There are no other threats to any other schools in the area. Anyone with info about this event should call 911 or WSPD non emergency at 336-773-7700
— Winston-Salem PD (@cityofwspolice) March 30, 2023
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