1 injured in Forsyth Tech shooting, campus evacuated. No active shooter, police say

Forsyth Tech Community College classes are canceled the rest of the week after a shooting on the main campus in Winston-Salem Thursday morning left one person injured. At noon, police said: “We can confirm there is no active shooter on the campus of Forsyth Tech.”

Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy student Shannon Howard James Pitt, 18, brought a firearm to campus and shot himself in the hand, Capt. Shelly Lovejoy said during a news conference late Thursday. It was a non-life-threatening injury, she said.

Authorities found Pitt outside the Strickland Center’s bathroom, Janet Spriggs, the college’s president, said.

Pitt was one of more than 600 high school students from Stokes and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools who were on campus during the shooting. They were visiting for the college’s annual event hosting seniors making college decisions, Spriggs said.

Students’ spring break now starts Friday, school officials said during the news conference, and will continue through next week. Counselors and social workers will be available to students upon return, school officials said.

No arrests had been made in the case late Thursday.

Earlier, the college sent out an alert saying two “armed and dangerous” men were still at-large. Police declined to comment on the college’s message but confirmed no suspects remain at-large.

At 10:10 a.m. police received a report of a shooting on the college’s main campus, according to the Winston-Salem Police Department.

Authorities organized buses to move students and teachers away from campus, according to emergency radio audio obtained via Broadcastify. On radio traffic, officers were heard going into buildings and rooms to assist students in getting to safety.

At 12:43 p.m., Winston-Salem Police said students with Stokes County Schools and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools who were on the Forsyth Tech campus were being sent back to their home schools. Parents were to pick up students at their school.

Authorities ask anyone with information about the the case to call Winston-Salem Police at 336-773-7700; Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800 or Spanish Crime Stoppers at 336-728-3904.

Forsyth Tech shooting

The school sent a message at about 11:30 a.m. alerting students and staff of two armed men on campus and asking them to shelter in place on the main campus, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

A follow-up alert from the school said it was an “active shooter situation.” Winstom-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Tricia McManus said late Thursday that the initial active shooter alert was issued based off the information they had at the time.

By 11:45 a.m., police confirmed there was no active shooter on the campus but said there was still an active investigation.

Parents who’d gathered on campus headed to a nearby National Guard Armory.

A student, told to shelter in place, told WXII: “We never expected it to happen here.”

Darius Taylor, 32, a Forsyth Tech student and WXII employee, recounted the fear everyone felt while sheltering in place in classrooms.

“Looking at the fear in my classmates’ eyes, not knowing what’s going on, I immediately started to fear, are we safe? Is this door strong enough to withstand bullets? Finally, when the police officers came in with the lights flashing, the guns, they instantly knew we were students and they got us out of there. I felt safe since they got us out of the building.”

He said his immediate reaction to the alert while inside his classroom was, turn off all the lights and get against the wall.

Lawmakers react

In the General Assembly House Appropriations Committee Thursday, two state lawmakers talked about how the Forsyth Tech situation was affecting them.

State Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Winston-Salem Republican, said his daughter is a guidance counselor.

“She’s hiding in the woods at Forsyth Tech right now with 52 students she’s trying to protect. She’s texting me right now to let me know what’s going on,” Lambeth said right before the committee adjourned before noon.

Rep. Amber Baker, a Forsyth County Democrat, asked lawmakers to pray for everyone, saying that her elderly grandmother doesn’t know what it means to “shelter in place.”

Baker said her mom, who lives near Forsyth Tech, has dementia.

“So we have to pray for the families and for the employees of Forsyth Tech. And yet again, we are being touched by gun violence, and so when it hits your house, maybe we’ll think about this differently.”

Observer reporters Joe Marusak and Kallie Cox and News & Observer reporter Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report.