Campus Alert Archive
Forsyth Tech

A Ghost Gun in a Restroom: High School Student's Self-Inflicted Wound Locks Down a Community College for Three Hours

NCshootingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On March 30, 2023, an 18-year-old Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy student shot himself in the hand in a restroom at Forsyth Tech's Strickland Center during a career event attended by approximately 600 high school students. The campus was locked down for three hours while police confirmed there was no active shooter threat. The student was found to possess a 9mm ghost gun.

Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
Forsyth Technical Community College
Community College · NC
~9,000 studentsTechAlerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

4 messages in sequence · 3 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimSpectrum News 1 quoting verbatim Forsyth Tech TechAlert SMS172 chars
TechAlert: We are experiencing an active shooter situation. Law enforcement is on site. The campus is on lockdown with shelter in place for all students, faculty and staff.
Sent at approximately 10:10 AM EDT on March 30, 2023 — the gunshot itself occurred minutes earlier in a second-floor Strickland Center restroom
The 'active shooter' framing was later contradicted by police, who confirmed the wound was self-inflicted; the alert language drove much of the morning's panic
Approximately 600 high school students from multiple Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools were on campus for a career event at the time
UPDATETwitter/X
Verified verbatimWFMY News 2 quoting the verbatim Forsyth Tech update79 chars
Two armed and dangerous men were seen on campus wearing gray and black hoodies.
WFMY News 2 reported that 'By 11:30 a.m., the school tweeted it was in an active shooter situation, and two armed and dangerous men were seen on campus wearing gray and black hoodies'
Police later confirmed there was no active shooter and the wound was self-inflicted; the suspect descriptions in this update were initial witness reports that did not match the actual events
UPDATESMS
Verified verbatimWFMY News 2 live coverage quoting Forsyth Tech verbatim release statement305 chars
While the investigation is ongoing, law enforcement is releasing students, faculty, staff and visitors from Forsyth Tech's main campus. In order to ensure an orderly evacuation, WSPD, Forsyth Tech Campus Police and the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office are working jointly to release one building at a time.
The 'one building at a time' evacuation procedure reflected the complexity of releasing approximately 600 visiting high school students alongside Forsyth Tech students, faculty, and staff
Joint coordination among Winston-Salem Police Department, Forsyth Tech Campus Police, and the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office is preserved verbatim from the institutional message
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction206 chars
FORSYTH TECH: All clear. Lockdown has been lifted. Students, faculty, staff and visitors are being released from the main campus. Campus is closed and all classes are canceled for the remainder of the week.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Canceling classes for the entire remainder of the week, not just the day, reflects the severity with which the institution treated a firearms incident involving visiting minors
Context

Background

The Forsyth Tech shooting involved a high school student visiting campus for a career event, which raises unique safety questions about community college campuses that regularly host minors for dual enrollment and outreach programs. Shannon Pitts was found to have a 9mm PMF (privately made firearm), commonly known as a ghost gun, which has no serial number and is difficult to trace. Tragically, Pitts was himself shot and killed in an unrelated Winston-Salem shooting approximately one year later, in early 2024. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools confirmed that all visiting students were accounted for and returned home safely after the lockdown was lifted.
Analysis

Key Findings

A ghost gun (privately made firearm with no serial number) was brought onto a community college campus by a visiting high school student during a career event
Approximately 600 high school students from multiple schools were on campus during the incident, complicating the lockdown response
The three-hour lockdown was extended due to the large number of visiting minors requiring a thorough building-by-building clearance
The student involved was tragically killed in a separate shooting approximately one year later
Outcome
Shannon Howard James Pitts, an 18-year-old Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy student, suffered a non-life-threatening self-inflicted gunshot wound to the hand from a homemade 9mm 'ghost gun' he had brought from his high school on a school bus. He was charged with two felony counts of possessing a firearm on educational property and a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon, and was arraigned in late March 2023. Classes at Forsyth Tech were canceled for the remainder of the week. On February 15, 2024, Pitts (then 19) was shot to death in a separate homicide on Goldfloss Street in Winston-Salem; police had not announced an arrest in his killing as of the latest available reporting.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Forsyth Tech campus shooting: one injured, classes cancelled - Winston-Salem Journal
    journalnow.com
  2. News
    Forsyth Tech shooting investigation: 1 injured, taken to hospital - WFMY News 2
    wfmynews2.com
  3. News
    Winston-Salem Prep student charged in Forsyth Tech shooting - WFMY News 2
    wfmynews2.com
  4. national media
    Police investigating incident at Forsyth Tech Community College - NBC News
    nbcnews.com
  5. News
    Forsyth Tech suspect dies in separate shooting in Winston-Salem - WFMY News 2
    wfmynews2.com
Tags
shootingcommunity-collegeghost-gunnorth-carolinaself-inflictedvisiting-studentslockdown
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion