WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — UPDATE: All campuses will remain closed for the rest of the week.
Winston-Salem police said an 18-year-old Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy student who shot himself in the hand at Forsyth Technical Community College on Thursday, prompting a campus-wide lockdown, is facing gun-related charges.
Police said Sha'nnon Pitts shot himself inside a bathroom stall at the Strickland Center. They don't know if the shooting was intentional or an accident.
Winston-Salem police have charged Pitts with the following:
- Two counts of Possession of a Weapon on Educational Property
- One count of Carrying Concealed Gun
This all started around 10 a.m. Thursday. Police got a report about shots fired on the main campus. Forsyth Tech sent a text alert to students, calling it an active shooter situation and telling students to shelter in place.
Winston-Salem police said it happened in the second-floor bathroom of the Strickland Center with more than 600 high school students on campus. The students were there to learn about their future after high school.
The campus lockdown was lifted after police determined it was not an active shooter situation. Several roads were blocked off while law enforcement officers investigated.
Parents were told to go to the National Guard Armory while they waited for their children to be released.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools said several of their students were at Forsyth Tech on a field trip for the day. All of those students were accounted for and returned home safely.
Pitts is set to appear in court Friday.
Forsyth Tech canceled all classes for the day and the remainder of the week.
Spring break also starts Friday for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
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