{
  "id": "2025-08-11-north-carolina-central-university-london-powers-murder-suicide",
  "slug": "north-carolina-central-university-london-powers-murder-suicide-2025-08-11",
  "institution": {
    "name": "North Carolina Central University",
    "shortName": "NCCU",
    "state": "NC",
    "type": "hbcu",
    "alertSystemName": "NCCU Alert",
    "enrollment": 8000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-08-11",
    "type": "dating-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "advisory",
    "headline": "Moving Day, a Protective Order, and a Murder-Suicide at Camden Pointe: NCCU Loses London Powers",
    "summary": "NCCU junior social work major [London Powers, 21, was shot by her ex-boyfriend Damien Tinsley](https://www.wral.com/news/local/nccu-student-london-powers-domestic-violence-august-2025-durham/) at Camden Pointe Apartments on East Knox Street in Durham on the afternoon of August 11, 2025, while she was in the process of moving out of the apartment they had shared. Tinsley, 23, died at the scene in an apparent murder-suicide; Powers, who [family members say had filed a protective order and repeatedly called police](https://newsone.com/6381832/london-powers-nccu-killed-by-ex-boyfriend-damien-tinsley/) about Tinsley's violence, died at the hospital the following morning.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "outcome": "London Powers died from her injuries at the hospital on the morning of August 12, 2025. Damien Tinsley was pronounced dead at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in what Durham police described as an apparent murder-suicide; no further charges were pending given his death.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "On or shortly after Monday, August 11, 2025",
      "channel": "website",
      "verbatimText": "London's professors and peers will remember her as vibrant, hard-working and supportive student who poured her heart into her social work cohort.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.nccu.edu/news/message-chancellor-dixon-fallen-eagle-london-powers",
      "sourceDescription": "Message from NCCU Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon, \"Fallen Eagle: London Powers,\" official university news release",
      "annotations": [
        "This was a chancellor's written statement, not a live NCCU Alert emergency text: the shooting happened at a private, off-campus apartment complex and was already over by the time it became known to the university, so NCCU's public communication centered on mourning and counseling resources",
        "Chancellor Dixon's message noted Powers was a junior in the University Honors program pursuing a Master of Social Work with a focus on adolescent and mental health, and had just been elected event coordinator of the NCCU Social Work Society for 2025-26",
        "The statement included counseling contact information for students and employees, a standard feature of NCCU's public messaging after a student death connected to interpersonal violence"
      ],
      "characterCount": 145
    }
  ],
  "context": "London Powers, a 21-year-old junior social work major at North Carolina Central University, was shot on the afternoon of August 11, 2025, at Camden Pointe Apartments on East Knox Street in Durham, an off-campus complex where she had lived with her ex-boyfriend, 23-year-old Damien Tinsley. According to [WRAL's reporting](https://www.wral.com/news/local/nccu-student-london-powers-domestic-violence-august-2025-durham/), Powers's family said she had recently obtained a protective order against Tinsley, found a new apartment, and was in the middle of moving out when he showed up unannounced. Durham police responded around 3 p.m. to a report of a double shooting and found Tinsley dead at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound; Powers was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and [died there the following morning](https://abc11.com/post/london-powers-witness-details-moments-north-carolina-central-university-student-was-shot-killed-ex-boyfriend/17529239/). Family members told reporters Powers had [called police multiple times before her death](https://newsone.com/6381832/london-powers-nccu-killed-by-ex-boyfriend-damien-tinsley/) to report Tinsley's violence, including an incident in which she said he fired a gun that grazed her. NCCU Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon issued an official statement remembering Powers as an Honors program student bound for a Master of Social Work degree, and friends and family later held a balloon release in her memory in Durham.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Powers's family said she had already obtained a protective order and secured a new apartment before Tinsley found her mid-move, illustrating how the highest-risk period in intimate-partner violence often falls at the point of separation",
    "The shooting occurred at an off-campus apartment complex, so NCCU's public response was a chancellor's statement rather than a live NCCU Alert push notification to the wider campus",
    "Family members said Powers had called police about Tinsley's violence, including a prior incident in which a gunshot grazed her, before the fatal attack",
    "Because Tinsley died at the scene, no criminal charges were filed; the case was closed by Durham police as a murder-suicide"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Family of NCCU student killed say she was the victim of domestic violence (WRAL)",
      "url": "https://www.wral.com/news/local/nccu-student-london-powers-domestic-violence-august-2025-durham/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Friend details moments NC Central University student was shot, killed by ex-boyfriend Damien Tinsley (ABC11 Raleigh-Durham)",
      "url": "https://abc11.com/post/london-powers-witness-details-moments-north-carolina-central-university-student-was-shot-killed-ex-boyfriend/17529239/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Family Says NCCU Student Called Police Multiple Times Before Her Ex Killed Her (NewsOne)",
      "url": "https://newsone.com/6381832/london-powers-nccu-killed-by-ex-boyfriend-damien-tinsley/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Message from Chancellor Dixon: Fallen Eagle London Powers (North Carolina Central University)",
      "url": "https://www.nccu.edu/news/message-chancellor-dixon-fallen-eagle-london-powers",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Family, friends honor NC Central University student killed by ex-boyfriend in domestic violence situation (ABC11 Raleigh-Durham)",
      "url": "https://abc11.com/post/london-powers-family-friends-honor-nc-central-university-student-killed-ex-boyfriend-domestic-violence-situation/17540514/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "dating-violence",
    "intimate-partner-violence",
    "hbcu",
    "murder-suicide",
    "off-campus",
    "north-carolina",
    "durham",
    "protective-order"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}