{
  "id": "2023-03-30-forsyth-tech-community-college-shooting",
  "slug": "forsyth-tech-community-college-shooting-2023-03-30",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Forsyth Technical Community College",
    "shortName": "Forsyth Tech",
    "state": "NC",
    "type": "community-college",
    "enrollment": 9000,
    "alertSystemName": "TechAlerts"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2023-03-30",
    "type": "shooting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Visiting high school student's self-inflicted gunshot prompts three-hour lockdown",
    "headlinePublic": "Visiting high school student's self-inflicted gunshot prompts three-hour lockdown",
    "summary": "On March 30, 2023, an 18-year-old [Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy student shot himself in the hand](https://journalnow.com/news/local/forsyth-tech-campus-shooting-one-injured-classes-cancelled/article_7395551c-cf08-11ed-bf27-9fd9483a1f8b.html) 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](https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/students-sheltering-in-place-at-forsyth-tech-in-winston-salem/83-8b904ed2-65c7-47e9-82e7-44d0e10057f4) while police confirmed there was no active shooter threat. The student was found to possess a 9mm ghost gun.",
    "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.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 1
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2023-03-30T10:10:00-04:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "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.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/news/2023/03/30/forsyth-tech-students-told-to-shelter-in-place-after-shots-fired",
      "sourceDescription": "Spectrum News 1 quoting verbatim Forsyth Tech TechAlert SMS",
      "annotations": [
        "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",
        "Approximately 600 high school students from multiple Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools were on campus for a career event at the time"
      ],
      "characterCount": 172
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 11:30 AM EDT on March 30, 2023",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/students-sheltering-in-place-at-forsyth-tech-in-winston-salem/83-8b904ed2-65c7-47e9-82e7-44d0e10057f4",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from WFMY News 2's reported-speech description of the college's tweet; the exact tweet wording was not preserved",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 12:30 PM EDT on March 30, 2023",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/students-sheltering-in-place-at-forsyth-tech-in-winston-salem/83-8b904ed2-65c7-47e9-82e7-44d0e10057f4",
      "sourceDescription": "Forsyth Tech statement quoted in WFMY News 2 live coverage; not confirmed as text transmitted to the campus community via SMS",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 4,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 1:00 PM EDT on March 30, 2023",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Forsyth Tech social media and Spectrum News coverage",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "The Forsyth Tech shooting involved a [high school student visiting campus for a career event](https://journalnow.com/news/local/forsyth-tech-campus-shooting-one-injured-classes-cancelled/article_7395551c-cf08-11ed-bf27-9fd9483a1f8b.html), 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](https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/crime/winston-salem-prep-student-charged-in-forsyth-tech-shooting-investigation/83-2a60320d-7399-4eb5-9097-76766abd81f4), which has no serial number and is difficult to trace. [Pitts was himself shot and killed](https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/crime/shannon-pitts-dies-in-winston-salem-shooting-year-after-forsyth-tech/83-e490e5cb-7a43-4281-a2b8-46e56acc4d01) in an unrelated Winston-Salem shooting approximately one year later, in early 2024. The [Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools confirmed](https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/shooting-reported-forsyth-tech-community-college/5UPFMUZWHVGVHKTTNI5BUNKZTA/) that all visiting students were accounted for and returned home safely after the lockdown was lifted.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "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 killed in a separate, unrelated shooting approximately one year later"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Forsyth Tech campus shooting: one injured, classes cancelled - Winston-Salem Journal",
      "url": "https://journalnow.com/news/local/forsyth-tech-campus-shooting-one-injured-classes-cancelled/article_7395551c-cf08-11ed-bf27-9fd9483a1f8b.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Forsyth Tech shooting investigation: 1 injured, taken to hospital - WFMY News 2",
      "url": "https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/students-sheltering-in-place-at-forsyth-tech-in-winston-salem/83-8b904ed2-65c7-47e9-82e7-44d0e10057f4",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Winston-Salem Prep student charged in Forsyth Tech shooting - WFMY News 2",
      "url": "https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/crime/winston-salem-prep-student-charged-in-forsyth-tech-shooting-investigation/83-2a60320d-7399-4eb5-9097-76766abd81f4",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police investigating incident at Forsyth Tech Community College - NBC News",
      "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/active-shooter-reported-forsyth-tech-community-college-north-carolina-rcna77411",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Forsyth Tech suspect dies in separate shooting in Winston-Salem - WFMY News 2",
      "url": "https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/crime/shannon-pitts-dies-in-winston-salem-shooting-year-after-forsyth-tech/83-e490e5cb-7a43-4281-a2b8-46e56acc4d01",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Spectrum News 1 quoting verbatim Forsyth Tech TechAlert SMS",
      "url": "https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/news/2023/03/30/forsyth-tech-students-told-to-shelter-in-place-after-shots-fired",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "shooting",
    "community-college",
    "ghost-gun",
    "north-carolina",
    "self-inflicted",
    "visiting-students",
    "lockdown"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-04-04",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}