Campus Alert Archive
Wake Forest

'Shooting on University Parkway': Wake Forest's Community Safety Advisory After a Drive-By Just Outside Campus

NCshootingadvisoryhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the night of November 1, 2021 at 9:23 PM EDT, Winston-Salem Police responded to a report of shots fired in the 3100 block of University Parkway, near Wake Forest University's Reynolda Campus. A white SUV had pulled alongside another vehicle stopped at a stoplight and fired multiple rounds, wounding a woman in the second car. Wake Forest issued a Community Safety Advisory through Wake Alert on November 2 summarizing the incident and reminding students of personal-safety practices for off-campus travel.

Alerts
1
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
Wake Forest University
Private R1 · NC
~8,800 studentsWake Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Verified verbatimWake Alert archive entry 'Community Safety Advisory: Shooting on University Parkway' (Nov 2, 2021)300 chars
Winston-Salem Police responded to a report made at 9:23 p.m. of a shooting in the 3100 block of University Parkway. A white SUV fired shots into a vehicle stopped at a stoplight, injuring a woman. No arrests have been made. The incident occurred off campus, and there is no WFU community involvement.
The 9:23 PM EDT shooting on November 1, 2021 is verified from Winston-Salem Police reporting cited in multiple outlets and the Wake Alert archive page; the advisory itself was published on November 2, 2021
University Parkway is a major Winston-Salem thoroughfare that runs along the southern boundary of Wake Forest's Reynolda Campus; the 3100 block is within typical student travel range
Wake Forest used the 'Community Safety Advisory' framing rather than an emergency Wake Alert — consistent with the university's pattern of using advisory mode for off-campus violence with no continuing on-campus threat
Context

Background

University Parkway is a major Winston-Salem thoroughfare that runs along the southern boundary of Wake Forest University's Reynolda Campus. On the night of November 1, 2021 at 9:23 PM EDT, Winston-Salem Police responded to a drive-by shooting in the 3100 block of University Parkway, where a white SUV had pulled alongside a vehicle stopped at a stoplight and fired multiple rounds, wounding a woman in the second car. The shooter's vehicle fled the scene. Wake Forest's Community Safety Advisory through Wake Alert was issued the next day, November 2. Wake Forest University issued a Community Safety Advisory through its Wake Alert system, summarizing the incident and reminding the campus community to be vigilant of their surroundings when traveling near campus. The advisory format is distinct from Wake Forest's emergency Wake Alerts — it is used to share off-campus public-safety information without triggering shelter-in-place or other defensive actions. The case is a clean documented example of an institutional choice to maintain a single, consistent communication channel (Wake Alert) for both emergency and advisory messages, with framing language that signals the difference. Wake Forest's pattern in 2021 — the September Mount Tabor advisory followed by this November University Parkway advisory — illustrates how a private R1 university operates a shared emergency-notification channel that handles a wide range of message types, from active threats to community awareness.
Analysis

Key Findings

Wake Forest used the 'Community Safety Advisory' framing rather than an emergency Wake Alert, consistent with the institution's pattern of advisory mode for off-campus violence with no continuing on-campus threat
The shooting was a drive-by from a white SUV that pulled alongside a stopped vehicle at a stoplight in the 3100 block of University Parkway at 9:23 PM EDT on November 1, 2021; the Wake Alert advisory was issued the following day, November 2
The advisory framed the incident as a public-safety concern and reminded students to be vigilant near campus rather than directing defensive action
Combined with the September Mount Tabor advisory, this case illustrates Wake Forest's 2021 pattern of using the Wake Alert channel for off-campus community awareness — a deliberate choice to maintain a single trusted notification system
Outcome
One woman was wounded by gunfire. The white SUV fled the scene; no arrests were publicly announced. The shooting occurred in the 3100 block of University Parkway, a major thoroughfare adjacent to Wake Forest's Reynolda Campus. Wake Forest issued a Community Safety Advisory rather than an emergency notification, framing the incident as an off-campus public-safety concern requiring awareness rather than defensive action.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Community Safety Advisory: Shooting on University Parkway (Wake Alert)
    admin.wakealert.wfu.edu
  2. Official
    Wake Alerts Archive (Wake Forest University)
    wakealert.wfu.edu
  3. Official
    Operating Status Normal (Wake Alert)
    admin.wakealert.wfu.edu
Tags
shootingoff-campusadvisorynorth-carolinawake-forestwinston-salemuniversity-parkwayprivate-r1drive-bywake-alertcommunity-safety-advisory
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion