Police were already on the Winston-Salem State University campus for homecoming when they heard the gunfire themselves, and 36 minutes later they heard it again.
One man was killed and three other people were wounded in two separate shootings at the historically Black university in Winston-Salem, N.C., on the night of Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Winston-Salem police arrested Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, in connection with the first shooting and charged him with murder. No arrests had been announced in the second shooting as of Monday, Nov. 9.
The man killed was Peyton Izaia Patterson, 19. He was lying wounded in the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive when officers, drawn by the sound of gunfire just after 9:45 p.m., reached him. They and emergency medical crews tried to save him. He did not survive, and his next of kin was notified, police said.
Alyssa Janae Ellerbee, 22, was also shot in that incident. She was taken to a hospital, treated and released.
Saturday was homecoming game day, with the WSSU Rams facing the Fayetteville State Broncos at Bowman Gray Stadium earlier in the day. University Police Chief Amir Henry assured the public that the campus had been secured. This year, Henry said, the two shootings eclipsed the celebration with “the loss of life and the injuries” they left behind.
The murder count against Spinks comes with two more: assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and felony possession of a firearm on an educational campus. He remains jailed without bond.
The victims and the suspects were part of two groups when an argument broke out, police said. Cequan Brower, 18, was charged with affray. Neither man is a student at the university, Assistant Chief Jason Swaim of the Winston-Salem Police Department’s Field Services Bureau told reporters at a briefing Nov. 8. Patterson was not a WSSU student either.
Gunfire Again at Victory Circle
Officers were still working the homicide scene when shots rang out again at about 10:22 p.m., near the intersection of Victory Circle and Cromartie Street. They found Najir Pearsall, 21, and Makyiah Ward, 20, with gunshot wounds. Both were taken to a hospital. Pearsall was listed in critical but stable condition; Ward was in stable condition.
A vehicle connected to that shooting was identified and later stopped by officers, Swaim said, but no one has been charged in that case. Detectives determined the first shooting was an isolated incident, not connected to the second, police said.
The Instagram Request That Ended in Gunfire
Spinks and Brower made their first court appearance Monday, Nov. 9, and the district attorney’s office laid out how the fight began. Prosecutors said Spinks, Brower and Patterson approached a group of women behind Gleason Hall and asked for their Instagram handles. When the women said no, Brower cursed at one of them and pushed her, prosecutors said.
One woman’s brother came over to protect his sister, the district attorney’s office said, and in the brawl that followed Spinks opened fire, killing Patterson and wounding Ellerbee. Officials said Spinks and Brower fled and swapped clothes afterward.
Spinks could face the death penalty if convicted and is due back in court Nov. 19. The judge cut Brower’s bond from $50,000 to $5,000 secured, ordered him to stay away from the campus and from Ellerbee, and set his next court date for Dec. 15.
Court records show Spinks has two other cases pending in North Carolina. In Randolph County, he faces charges of carrying a concealed weapon and marijuana possession stemming from an arrest in March. In Guilford County, he was indicted Oct. 5 on charges of felony conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery with a dangerous weapon. In court, prosecutors added that he is serving probation in Randolph County for reckless driving and a concealed-gun offense.
The lawyer representing him in the March case said Nov. 8 that he was unaware of the new charges in Winston-Salem, in Forsyth County.
Prayers in Place of Homecoming
The campus was placed on lockdown Saturday night. By 1:25 a.m. Sunday, police were letting students walk back to their dorms, and at 1:45 a.m. the police department and the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office briefed reporters on campus.
Chancellor Bonita J. Brown canceled the remaining homecoming weekend activities Nov. 8, among them an event at Emmanuel Baptist Church. In their place, a church in the city planned to lead the community in prayer. Brown offered condolences to the family of the man killed and said she was praying for the recovery of those hurt. She told students, faculty and parents that the campus was secure and that additional law enforcement would remain while the investigation continues.
The university canceled all classes Monday, Nov. 9, keeping campus operations and administrative offices open, and said classes would resume Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 8 a.m. Counseling was offered to students and community members affected. More officers will be on campus in the coming days. The Winston-Salem Police Department, the sheriff’s office and WSSU campus police are investigating.
Police Chief William Penn Jr. of the Winston-Salem Police Department vowed at a news conference Nov. 8 that authorities would find everyone responsible for the violence at the school, and he asked people not to point fingers while the investigation is ongoing. “It’s important that the blame of these tragic events go to the right people and that’s the folks who committed these acts,” Penn said.