Campus Alert Archive
NSU

Greek Row Gunfire at 11:28 PM: An On-Campus NSU Shooting That Reshaped Spartan ID Policy in 72 Hours

VAshootingemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

Just before midnight on Saturday, April 19, 2025, two people were shot on Greek Row at Norfolk State University — one with life-threatening injuries from being struck four times. The Norfolk State University Police Department issued an NSU Alert and joined the Norfolk Police Department in clearing the campus. Zakeyis A. Womack, 20, of Ringgold, Virginia, was later arrested on six felony charges. Within days, NSU mandated that student and employee ID cards must always be visible in campus facilities.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
2
Institution
Norfolk State University
Hbcu · VA
~5,800 studentsRaveNSU Alerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 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
Approximate reconstructionNSU Alert event archive106 chars
NSU Alert: Shots fired on Greek Row. Shelter in place. Police on scene. Avoid the area. Updates to follow.

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

The shots-fired call came in at approximately 11:28 PM EDT according to the official NSU update; the SMS would have been sent within minutes
Greek Row is along Presidential Parkway, one of the main thoroughfares on the NSU campus, and houses fraternity and sorority residential structures — a high-density target on a Saturday night
Reconstructed from the official NSU update timeline; the verbatim SMS short-code message was not preserved in a publicly accessible archive
UPDATEEmail
Verified verbatimNSU Alert event archive484 chars
NSU Alert (Update): On April 19, 2025, at approximately 11:28 p.m. the Norfolk State University Police Department in conjunction with the Norfolk Police Department, responded to shots fired on Greek Row. Upon arrival, authorities discovered two people who suffered injuries. They were both taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and are being treated. NSU Police and the Norfolk Police Department have cleared the campus area on Greek Row. There is no further threat to the campus.
This longer email-style update was preserved verbatim in the NSU public events archive — the same text was reproduced by [13News Now](https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/norfolk/norfolk-police-double-shooting-nsu-university/291-e37faad4-1f3f-456d-8052-b6524717251b) and [ABC News](https://abcnews.com/US/2-injured-shooting-norfolk-state-campus-police/story?id=120986494)
The phrase 'There is no further threat to the campus' is the de facto all-clear language; NSU did not issue a separately labeled all-clear message
The official communication frames the incident as 'on Greek Row' rather than naming a specific fraternity house — a privacy-aware framing that nonetheless geolocates the incident for community members familiar with campus geography
Context

Background

Norfolk State University is a public HBCU on a 134-acre campus in central Norfolk, Virginia, and Greek Row sits along Presidential Parkway, one of the campus's primary internal roadways. At 11:28 PM EDT on Saturday, April 19, 2025, NSUPD and the Norfolk Police Department responded to shots fired on Greek Row and discovered two victims — one of them an NSU student whose parents later said he was shot at six times and hit four times in the arms, legs, and stomach, with one bullet grazing his cheek. Both were transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The university's NSU Alert system pushed an initial SMS within minutes and followed up with a longer message confirming there was no further threat to campus. Within 72 hours, NSU announced new safety protocols, most notably a requirement that Spartan student and employee ID cards 'always be present and visible in campus facilities' — a policy similar to those rolled out at other HBCUs after homecoming-season violence. The suspect, Zakeyis A. Womack, 20, of Ringgold, Virginia, was apprehended in Reidsville, North Carolina by the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Task Force in coordination with their North Carolina counterparts and charged with six felony counts. The incident came roughly 30 months after the September 2022 off-campus mass shooting near NSU that killed two students — meaning NSU's emergency alert system had been activated for two major shooting events affecting its student population in fewer than three years.
Analysis

Key Findings

The NSU Alert was sent within minutes of the 11:28 PM call, demonstrating that NSU's Rave-based system meets the rapid-notification standard for on-campus emergencies
The official update text uses the phrase 'There is no further threat to the campus' as the de facto all-clear, rather than issuing a separately labeled all-clear message
Within 72 hours of the shooting, NSU implemented mandatory ID-visibility rules — a rare example of an HBCU translating an alert event into immediate, visible policy change
The April 19, 2025 incident was the second major shooting affecting NSU students in fewer than three years, following the September 4, 2022 off-campus mass shooting
Outcome
Two victims were transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital — one with life-threatening injuries (later reported by his parents to have been shot at six times, struck four times). Zakeyis A. Womack, 20, of Ringgold, Virginia, was apprehended in Reidsville, North Carolina by the U.S. Marshals Service and charged with two counts each of malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and shooting in commission of a felony. NSU implemented new ID-visibility protocols within days.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    NSU Alert (Update) Shots Fired-On Campus (Norfolk State University events archive)
    events.nsu.edu
  2. Official
    NSU Alerts | University Policy (Norfolk State University)
    nsu.edu
  3. Official
    Man arrested following weekend shooting at Norfolk State University (City of Norfolk)
    norfolk.gov
  4. News
    2 injured in shooting on Norfolk State campus, police say (ABC News)
    abcnews.com
  5. News
    Man arrested in double shooting at Norfolk State University (13News Now)
    13newsnow.com
  6. News
    Norfolk State University releases new safety protocols after double shooting on campus (13News Now)
    13newsnow.com
  7. News
    Norfolk State student recovers after campus shooting (13News Now)
    13newsnow.com
Tags
shootinghbcunorfolk-statevirginiagreek-rowon-campusnsu-alertid-policyspartanrave-alert
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion