{
  "id": "2024-01-12-wingate-university-knife-attack",
  "slug": "wingate-university-knife-attack-2024-01-12",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Wingate University",
    "shortName": "Wingate",
    "state": "NC",
    "type": "private-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "Wingate Alert (Bulldog Alerts)",
    "enrollment": 3300
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-01-12",
    "type": "stabbing",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Intruder cut a student with a knife in a dorm room; suspect apprehended within the hour",
    "headlinePublic": "Intruder cut a student with a knife in a dorm room; suspect apprehended within the hour",
    "summary": "On the evening of January 12, 2024, Wingate University ordered a [campus-wide lockdown shortly after 8 PM EST after a non-student attacker entered a dorm room and cut a Wingate student on the hand with a knife](https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/1-custody-after-lockdown-wingate-university/UZY7AUU2GZGLJEFA46H2HPJZCM/). The victim fled and police, dispatched a description of a white male in a red hoodie, [apprehended a suspect within roughly 40 minutes](https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/wingate-university-lockdown-knife-attack/275-f7342f4f-18c1-42bc-a4b8-d009aa833269).",
    "outcome": "The student victim sustained a cut to the hand but was able to run from the attacker. A suspect was apprehended within roughly 40 minutes and the lockdown was lifted the same evening, around 8:40 PM EST. On February 2, 2024, police publicly identified the suspect as Nicklaus Jones, who was not affiliated with Wingate, and charged him with attempted first-degree murder and felony breaking and entering.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 1
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2024-01-12T20:10:00-05:00",
      "timestampApprox": "Shortly after 8:00 PM EST on January 12, 2024",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Wingate University has issued immediate lock-down procedures for the Wingate campus. Please lock all doors and windows and await further instructions.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.qcnews.com/news/u-s/north-carolina/union-county/wingate/wingate-university-goes-into-lockdown-after-student-reportedly-stabbed/",
      "sourceDescription": "QCNews / WJZY-WCNC coverage quoting the Wingate Alert verbatim",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent shortly after 8:00 PM EST on January 12, 2024, after a student reported being cut on the hand by an unknown male brandishing a knife",
        "Brief 21-word lockdown instruction with no information about the attacker description (Wingate police separately disseminated to officers that they were seeking a white male in a red hoodie armed with a knife)",
        "Uses 'lock-down' with a hyphen, preserved as-published"
      ],
      "characterCount": 150
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2024-01-12T20:40:00-05:00",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 40 minutes after the initial alert, around 8:40 PM EST",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "The lockdown has been lifted. Police have the individual in custody.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/wingate-university-lockdown-knife-attack/275-f7342f4f-18c1-42bc-a4b8-d009aa833269",
      "sourceDescription": "WCNC and multiple outlets quoting the Wingate Alert all-clear verbatim",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim text confirmed by WCNC, WSOC, and Yahoo News coverage of the January 12, 2024 lockdown lifting",
        "The notably terse all-clear (just 11 words) is consistent with Wingate's brief lockdown alert style",
        "The lockdown lasted approximately 40 minutes (about 8:00 to 8:40 PM EST), a quick resolution for an active-knife-attack alert"
      ],
      "characterCount": 68
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the evening of January 12, 2024, Wingate University's main campus went into lockdown after a Wingate student was [attacked with a knife in a dorm room by a man who did not belong on campus](https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/1-custody-after-lockdown-wingate-university/UZY7AUU2GZGLJEFA46H2HPJZCM/). The student was cut on the hand but managed to run away and call for help, giving police a description of a white male in a red hoodie. [Wingate Police and Union County Sheriff's deputies located and apprehended a suspect](https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/wingate-university-lockdown-knife-attack/275-f7342f4f-18c1-42bc-a4b8-d009aa833269), later publicly identified as Nicklaus Jones, who was not affiliated with the university. The campus alert (issued via Wingate's Bulldog Alerts system) was a terse 21-word lockdown instruction telling students to lock doors and windows and await further instructions. The [lockdown ran from about 8:00 PM EST to around 8:40 PM EST before it was lifted](https://www.qcnews.com/news/u-s/north-carolina/union-county/wingate/wingate-university-goes-into-lockdown-after-student-reportedly-stabbed/). Jones was [publicly identified on February 2, 2024, and charged with attempted first-degree murder and felony breaking and entering](https://www.wbtv.com/2024/01/13/wingate-student-hurt-knife-attack-university-suspect-custody/). The incident was the first of two armed-attacker lockdowns at Wingate in 2024; a separate [June 28 incident involved gunfire at a youth baseball game on Wingate's field](https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/shooting-near-wingate-university-6-28-2024/275-73bff175-0656-4920-99af-9d35353f85cc).",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Wingate's brief 21-word lockdown alert omitted suspect description information that police were simultaneously using to search the campus, a common tension in campus alerts between speed and operational specificity",
    "The lockdown lasted roughly 40 minutes (about 8:00 to 8:40 PM EST on January 12, 2024)",
    "This was the first of two armed-attacker lockdowns at Wingate in 2024, both involving non-affiliated attackers",
    "The attacker was not affiliated with the university and entered a residence hall room, an access-control scenario at a small residential campus"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Wingate University goes into lockdown after student reportedly stabbed (QCNews)",
      "url": "https://www.qcnews.com/news/u-s/north-carolina/union-county/wingate/wingate-university-goes-into-lockdown-after-student-reportedly-stabbed/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "1 in custody after knife attack injures student at Wingate University (WSOC TV)",
      "url": "https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/1-custody-after-lockdown-wingate-university/UZY7AUU2GZGLJEFA46H2HPJZCM/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Wingate University under brief lockdown Friday after student attacked with knife (WCNC)",
      "url": "https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/wingate-university-lockdown-knife-attack/275-f7342f4f-18c1-42bc-a4b8-d009aa833269",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Wingate student hurt in knife attack at university, suspect in custody (WBTV)",
      "url": "https://www.wbtv.com/2024/01/13/wingate-student-hurt-knife-attack-university-suspect-custody/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Wingate University Campus Safety",
      "url": "https://www.wingate.edu/mygate-students/campus-safety",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "stabbing",
    "north-carolina",
    "private-college",
    "lockdown",
    "non-affiliated-attacker",
    "residence-hall",
    "wingate"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-13",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}