Winston-Salem State Homecoming Shootings: One Dead

Case No. DHF-068 | Subject: Two separate shootings on the campus of Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, during homecoming weekend on Saturday 7 November 2026; one person killed and three injured; a 20-year-old man charged with murder in the first shooting, no arrest yet in the second | Date: Saturday 7 November 2026 | Location: Winston-Salem State University campus, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA | Status: CHARGED

Posted: 9 November 2026

Status stamp: CHARGED

Image note for readers: All images in this file are original illustrations created for Dark History Files. They are atmospheric artwork, not photographs and not real evidence. No image in this file depicts Peyton Izaia Patterson, Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, Cequon Warren Brower, Alyssa Janae Ellerbee, Najir Pearsall, Makyiah Ward, any member of any family, any student, any investigator, any official, or any real person, and no image depicts any act of violence, any death, any arrest, or any weapon.

Caption: Case card for DHF-068 — the Winston-Salem State homecoming shootings, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Status: CHARGED.

THE FILE CARD

Case File No.	DHF-068
Subject	Two separate shootings on the campus of Winston-Salem State University during homecoming weekend on Saturday 7 November 2026. In the first shooting, at about 9:45 p.m. near the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, 19-year-old Peyton Izaia Patterson was killed and a 22-year-old woman was wounded. In the second shooting, at about 10:22 p.m. near Victory Circle and Cromartie Street, two more people were wounded. One man, 20-year-old Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, was arrested on Sunday 8 November 2026 and charged with murder in the first shooting. No arrest has been reported in the second shooting.
Date	Saturday 7 November 2026 (first shooting about 9:45 p.m.; second shooting about 10:22 p.m.); Sunday 8 November 2026 (arrest of Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks; remaining homecoming activities cancelled; Monday classes cancelled).
Location	Winston-Salem State University campus, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. First shooting: near the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Second shooting: near the intersection of Victory Circle and Cromartie Street.
Status	CHARGED
Investigating authorities	Winston-Salem Police Department; Winston-Salem State University Police; Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.
Person charged	Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and felony possession of a firearm on educational property, in connection with the first shooting. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent. Cequon Warren Brower, 18, was also arrested in connection with the fighting that preceded the first shooting and charged with affray. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent. No person has been charged in connection with the second shooting.
One-line summary	On homecoming night at Winston-Salem State University, two separate shootings on campus in less than an hour left one 19-year-old dead and three people wounded; police arrested a 20-year-old man the next day and charged him with murder in the first shooting, while the second shooting remains unsolved.

Why this file is stamped CHARGED: The stamp records only the position as it stands on 9 November 2026. The Winston-Salem Police Department says Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, was arrested on Sunday 8 November 2026 and is charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and felony possession of a firearm on educational property, in connection with the shooting that killed Peyton Izaia Patterson. He is held without bond. A charge is not a conviction, and this file names him only as charged. The second shooting, in which two people were wounded, has no arrest and no charge attached to it as of 9 November 2026, and the question of whether the two shootings are connected is not settled in the sources relied on here. The stamp is CHARGED because a murder charge has been brought in the fatal shooting — and it covers only that shooting. If the charge is dropped, if a conviction follows, or if anyone is charged in the second shooting, this file will be updated, dated, and re-stamped if the facts require it — never quietly rewritten.

THE CASE

Homecoming day

Saturday 7 November 2026 was homecoming day at Winston-Salem State University, a historically Black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Rams had played the Fayetteville State Broncos earlier in the day, and the campus was full for one of the biggest weekends of the university's year — the kind of weekend when alumni return, families gather, and the grounds stay busy long after the game ends.

Homecoming is a reunion as much as a game, a date families keep months in advance, and the police knew the campus would be crowded — officers were already on the grounds for the events when the evening turned, which is why the first shots were heard by officers already there. It is also why the chancellor called the night senseless violence: the setting was a celebration, and the people hurt were gathered for one.

This file records what happened that night in the order the public record gives it. Two shootings happened on the same campus, less than an hour apart. One has produced an arrest and a murder charge; the other has not. Whether the two are connected is a question the authorities have answered differently in different statements, and this file says so plainly rather than choosing the neater answer. A file that picks one version of an unsettled fact is not a record — it is a guess with a stamp on it.

The first shooting: 9:45 p.m.

At about 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, officers who were on campus for the homecoming events heard gunshots near the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. They went to the sound and found 19-year-old Peyton Izaia Patterson with a gunshot wound. Officers and emergency medical personnel tried life-saving measures at the scene, but Patterson died there.

A 22-year-old woman was also found at the scene with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. She was taken to a hospital, where she was treated and later released. She has since been identified in reporting as Alyssa Janae Ellerbee. One outlet gives her age as 19 rather than 22; the Associated Press and CNN both give 22, and this file follows them, with the conflict noted in the fact log. She survived — treated, and released.

The police account of what led to the shooting is short, and this file does not add to it. Assistant Chief Jason Swaim of the Winston-Salem Police Department told reporters on Sunday that the shooting stemmed from an argument between two groups, and that the groups were not part of the university's student body. That is the whole of the motive evidence in the public record: an argument between two groups of people who were not students. No source relied on here says what the argument was about, or who started it, or how long it had been going on. The file does not fill that gap, because the gap is where speculation lives, and speculation about why a 19-year-old was killed is the one thing this file will not do.

The university has said that Patterson was not a student at Winston-Salem State, adding that the clarification does not lessen the tragedy or its impact on the university and the broader Winston-Salem community. That sentence is worth keeping whole, because it is the university speaking for itself: the fact that the young man who died was not enrolled does not change what happened on its campus, or what the campus owes the people who were there. He was 19 years old. He was on a university campus on homecoming night. He was killed there. Those are the facts the record supports, and they are enough.

The second shooting: 10:22 p.m.

While detectives were still processing the first scene, officers reported another round of gunshots at 10:22 p.m., at the intersection of Victory Circle and Cromartie Street — less than an hour after the first shooting, and on the same campus. Police responding to the sound found two more gunshot victims.

The two were 21-year-old Najir Pearsall, who was critically wounded, and 20-year-old Makyiah Ward, who was listed in stable condition. Ward is a newcomer on the Winston-Salem State women's basketball team — a sophomore guard, listed at 5-foot-5 and wearing No. 3. Sources told the sports outlet HBCU Gameday that she is in good condition and is expected to recover fully. That expectation is single-source, and this file flags it as such in the fact log. Pearsall's condition was described by police as critically wounded, and by HBCU Gameday as critical but stable.

Police say a vehicle tied to the second attack was stopped elsewhere in the city, and that no arrests had been made in the second shooting as of Sunday afternoon. That is the position as it stands on 9 November 2026: two people wounded, a vehicle stopped, and no one charged. The second shooting is, in the language of the file, open — and it is the reason the stamp on this file, CHARGED, needs the qualification in the box above it. The charge covers the first shooting only.

The question every reader will ask is whether the two shootings are connected, and the honest answer is that the authorities have not settled it in the public record. The Winston-Salem Police Department said in a statement on Sunday that the first shooting was an isolated incident and was not connected to the second. The Associated Press and CNN, reporting the same day, said authorities were still investigating whether the two shootings were connected. Both versions are in the record, from the same weekend, and this file carries both of them. It does not pick one, because picking one would mean pretending the record is settled when it is not. The connection question is listed in Still Unknown, where it belongs.

The arrest: Sunday

On Sunday 8 November 2026, police arrested Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, in connection with the first shooting. He was charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and felony possession of a firearm on educational property. He is being held without bond. Police confirmed that Spinks was not a student at the university.

The arrest came a day after the shooting, after an investigation Swaim had described that morning as still in its preliminary stages, and too soon to say whether the two shootings were connected. By the time of the arrest announcement, the department's position on the first shooting had sharpened: it was, in their words, an isolated incident, stemming from an argument between two groups. The second shooting was still being investigated, with no suspect identified in public.

A second arrest was also made in connection with the fighting that preceded the first shooting. Cequon Warren Brower, 18, was arrested and charged with affray, according to the reporting that names him; NBC News reported that he was arrested in connection with the fighting and was not a student. One outlet spells his first name "Cequan"; NBC News spells it "Cequon", and this file follows NBC News, with the variant noted in the fact log. Affray is a charge arising from the fight itself, not from the shooting, and this file does not treat the two arrests as the same thing. Spinks is charged with murder. Brower is charged with affray. Both are charged, not convicted, and both are presumed innocent.

Chief William Penn Jr. of the Winston-Salem Police Department spoke at the news conference about the investigation, and his words are worth recording exactly, because they are a promise and a warning at once. He said authorities would find all of those responsible for the violence at the school. He also said it was important that the blame for these events go to the right people — "the folks who committed these acts" — and asked people not to point fingers while the investigation is ongoing. That is the police chief of the city telling the public, in the middle of a case with one arrest and one open shooting, not to name names on their own. This file follows that instruction. It names only the people the police have charged, and it names them only as charged.

The campus response

On Sunday morning, Chancellor Bonita J. Brown issued a statement calling the shootings "senseless violence". She assured students, faculty and parents that the campus was secure, that additional law enforcement would remain while the investigation continues, and that the school was offering counseling for anyone in need. "We also recognize the concern and anxiety these events have created among our students, parents, families and broader community," she said. "We take our responsibility for campus safety seriously and remain committed to the well-being of everyone who is part of our university community."

The university cancelled the remainder of the homecoming activities scheduled for Sunday, including an event that had been planned at Emmanuel Baptist Church. A local church instead planned to lead a call for prayers in support of the community. Monday classes were cancelled so students could seek support, with administrative offices remaining open and classes set to resume on Tuesday at 8 a.m. The Monday cancellation is reported by a single source and is flagged as such in the fact log; the Sunday cancellations are confirmed by the Associated Press and CNN.

Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. spoke at the news conference as well. "Right now, the community is in need of your prayers," he said. "The community is in need of us coming together." That is the whole of his quoted statement in the sources relied on here, and it is the tone the file keeps: a community being asked to come together, not a case being closed.

The response was one of grief and prayer. Messages from alumni, families and fans poured in, many directed at Ward and the other victims — including one from a Fayetteville State alumnus, from the other side of the homecoming game, saying the rivalry did not matter now. This file does not quote social media as evidence of what happened; it records these messages only as evidence of how the community answered.

What is still open

The most immediate open fact is the second shooting. Two people were wounded at Victory Circle and Cromartie Street at 10:22 p.m. on Saturday. A vehicle tied to that attack was stopped elsewhere in the city. No one has been arrested in that shooting, and no one has been charged. Until someone is, the second half of this file stays open, and the stamp CHARGED covers only the first half.

The second open fact is the connection question. The police department has said the first shooting was an isolated incident, not connected to the second. The Associated Press and CNN have reported that authorities were still investigating whether the two shootings were connected. Those two statements do not sit together comfortably, and this file does not force them to. The connection is not settled, and the file says so.

The third open fact is the condition of the two people wounded in the second shooting. Najir Pearsall was critically wounded; Makyiah Ward was in stable condition, with sources telling HBCU Gameday she is expected to recover fully. The police have not said, in the sources relied on here, how many people remain hospitalised beyond what was reported on Sunday. That is a fact that will change, and when it does, this file will be updated with the date and the source.

The fourth open fact is the simplest one. A 19-year-old, Peyton Izaia Patterson, was killed on a university campus on homecoming night. A 20-year-old has been charged with his murder and is presumed innocent. Three other people were wounded, one of them a student-athlete. Until the second shooting is solved, and until the charge is tested in court, the file stays open, and the stamp stays CHARGED — for the first shooting only.

TIMELINE

• Saturday 7 November 2026, daytime: Homecoming day at Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The WSSU Rams play the Fayetteville State Broncos earlier in the day. — Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• Saturday 7 November 2026, about 9:45 p.m.: Officers on campus for homecoming hear gunshots near the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. They find 19-year-old Peyton Izaia Patterson with a gunshot wound; life-saving measures are unsuccessful and he dies at the scene. A 22-year-old woman, later identified as Alyssa Janae Ellerbee, is also found wounded at the scene; she is taken to a hospital, treated, and later released. — Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full via La Nacion syndication); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full); Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• Saturday 7 November 2026, about 10:22 p.m.: A second shooting is reported at the intersection of Victory Circle and Cromartie Street, on the same campus. Two people are wounded: 21-year-old Najir Pearsall, critically, and 20-year-old Makyiah Ward, a women's basketball player, in stable condition. A vehicle tied to that attack is later stopped elsewhere in the city. No arrests are made in the second shooting. — Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full).
• Sunday 8 November 2026, early morning: The Winston-Salem Police Department holds a news conference. Assistant Chief Jason Swaim says the investigations are in their preliminary stages and it is too soon to determine whether the two shootings are connected. — CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full); Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full).
• Sunday 8 November 2026, morning: Chancellor Bonita J. Brown issues a statement calling the shootings "senseless violence", assuring the campus community that the campus is secure, and announcing that the remainder of the homecoming activities are cancelled and counseling is available. — Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full).
• Sunday 8 November 2026: Police arrest Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, in connection with the first shooting. He is charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and felony possession of a firearm on educational property, and is held without bond. Cequon Warren Brower, 18, is also arrested in connection with the fighting and charged with affray. Neither man is a student at the university. — Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full); Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• Sunday 8 November 2026 (single-source report): Monday classes are cancelled so students can seek support, with administrative offices remaining open and classes set to resume Tuesday at 8 a.m. — InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full; see fact log).
• As of Monday 9 November 2026: One person is dead and three are wounded. Spinks is charged with murder in the first shooting and held without bond. No arrest has been reported in the second shooting, and whether the two shootings are connected is not settled in the public record. The investigation is ongoing. — Associated Press, 8 November 2026; CNN, 8 November 2026; Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026; InfoHandle, 9 November 2026.

EVIDENCE & LEADS

• The first shooting (Saturday 7 November 2026, about 9:45 p.m.): Officers on campus for homecoming heard gunshots near the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. They found 19-year-old Peyton Izaia Patterson with a gunshot wound; life-saving measures were unsuccessful and he died at the scene. A 22-year-old woman, later identified as Alyssa Janae Ellerbee, was also wounded at the scene; she was taken to a hospital, treated, and later released. — Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full); Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• What police say led to it: Assistant Chief Jason Swaim said the shooting stemmed from an argument between two groups, and that the groups were not part of the university's student body. No source relied on here says what the argument was about. — CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full); Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• The second shooting (Saturday 7 November 2026, about 10:22 p.m.): Gunshots were reported at the intersection of Victory Circle and Cromartie Street. Two people were wounded: 21-year-old Najir Pearsall, critically, and 20-year-old Makyiah Ward, a women's basketball player, in stable condition. A vehicle tied to that attack was stopped elsewhere in the city. No arrests had been made in the second shooting as of Sunday afternoon. — Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full).
• The arrest (Sunday 8 November 2026): Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks, 20, was arrested in connection with the first shooting and charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and felony possession of a firearm on educational property. He is held without bond and is not a student at the university. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent. — Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full); Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• The second arrest (Sunday 8 November 2026): Cequon Warren Brower, 18, was arrested in connection with the fighting that preceded the first shooting and charged with affray. He is not a student. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent. — Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full, citing NBC News); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• The connection question (not settled): The Winston-Salem Police Department said in a statement on Sunday that the first shooting was an isolated incident and was not connected to the second shooting. The Associated Press and CNN reported the same day that authorities were still investigating whether the two shootings were connected. Both versions are in the public record. — Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full); Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full).
• The campus response: Chancellor Bonita J. Brown called the shootings "senseless violence", said the campus is secure, that additional law enforcement would remain while the investigation continues, and that counseling is available. The remainder of the homecoming activities scheduled for Sunday were cancelled, including an event at Emmanuel Baptist Church; a local church planned to lead a call for prayers. — Associated Press, 8 November 2026 (read in full); CNN, 8 November 2026 (read in full); InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full).
• The call for video: Investigators are asking anyone with cellphone video from either scene to submit it through the department's tip line. — InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 (read in full; single source; see fact log).
• What is NOT evidence in this file: any account of what the argument between the two groups was about (not stated by any authority); any account of a motive beyond the police statement that the shooting stemmed from an argument (not stated); any claim that the two shootings are connected, or that they are not, beyond the conflicting statements recorded above; any account of who fired the shots in the second shooting (no arrest, no charge); any account of the current hospital status of Najir Pearsall or Makyiah Ward beyond what was reported on Sunday (not stated); any claim from social-media comments about who is responsible for either shooting, including speculation about the people named in online posts (NOT used — see the fact log).

Caption: Illustration of a university campus quad at night — atmospheric artwork, not a photograph of any place connected to this case, and not evidence.

STILL UNKNOWN

• Who fired the shots in the second shooting? Two people were wounded at Victory Circle and Cromartie Street at 10:22 p.m. on Saturday 7 November 2026. A vehicle tied to that attack was stopped elsewhere in the city. No arrest has been reported, and no one has been charged.
• Are the two shootings connected? The police department has said the first shooting was an isolated incident, not connected to the second. The Associated Press and CNN have reported that authorities were still investigating whether the two shootings were connected. The record does not settle the question.
• What was the argument about? Police say the first shooting stemmed from an argument between two groups who were not part of the student body. No source relied on here says what the argument was about, who started it, or how long it had been going on.
• What are the current conditions of Najir Pearsall and Makyiah Ward? Pearsall was critically wounded and Ward was in stable condition, with sources telling HBCU Gameday that Ward is expected to recover fully. The police have not said, in the sources relied on here, how many people remain hospitalised beyond what was reported on Sunday.
• What will happen to the charge against Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks? He is charged with murder and held without bond. No plea, attorney, arraignment detail or trial date has been publicly reported in the sources relied on here. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent.
• What will happen to the charge against Cequon Warren Brower? He is charged with affray in connection with the fighting. No further detail has been publicly reported in the sources relied on here. He is charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent.

What would change this file: if anyone is arrested or charged in the second shooting; if the police settle whether the two shootings are connected; if the police say more about what the argument was about, or about the vehicle stopped in connection with the second shooting; if the conditions of Najir Pearsall or Makyiah Ward change; if the charge against Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks or Cequon Warren Brower is dropped, or a conviction follows; or if any further official statement is made about the case, this file will be updated with the date, the source, and the new stamp if the facts require it — never quietly rewritten. Until then, the stamp stays CHARGED — for the first shooting only.

If you have information: The Winston-Salem Police Department is investigating both shootings. Investigators are asking anyone with cellphone video from either scene to submit it through the department's tip line. Contact the Winston-Salem Police Department non-emergency line at 336-773-7700, or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800 (English) or 336-728-3904 (Spanish), or by text through the Text-A-Tip program at 336-276-1717. In an emergency, call 911. Do not name people as suspects on social media — the police chief has asked the public not to point fingers while the investigation is ongoing.

WATCH THE FULL STORY

No companion video yet. If Dark History Files' sister channel Curiozoid publishes a video on this case, it will be linked here.

SOURCES

• Associated Press, 8 November 2026 — "Police make arrest in a deadly shooting at Winston-Salem State during homecoming weekend" (read in full via La Nacion syndication, https://www.lanacion.com.ar/usa/police-make-arrest-in-a-deadly-shooting-at-winston-salem-state-during-homecoming-weekend-nid08112026/, 9 November 2026): officers responded after hearing gunshots around 9:45 p.m. Saturday at Winston-Salem State University; they found a 19-year-old man with a gunshot wound and life-saving measures were unsuccessful; officers also found a 22-year-old woman at the scene who appeared to have a gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital, treated and later released; Ziyaire Spinks, 20, was being held without bond on charges of murder and possession of a firearm on educational property; detectives determined the shooting was an isolated incident; police had said two separate shootings occurred on campus Saturday night and had not shared details about the second shooting; university officials canceled the remainder of the homecoming activities; Chancellor Bonita J. Brown called the shootings "senseless violence", assured the campus was secure and that additional law enforcement would remain, and said the school was offering counseling.
• CNN, 8 November 2026 — "Police make arrest in a deadly shooting at Winston-Salem State during homecoming weekend" (https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/08/us/winston-salem-state-homecoming-shootings, read in full, 9 November 2026): officers on campus for homecoming events heard gunshots around 9:45 p.m. Saturday and found a 19-year-old man with a gunshot wound who died at the scene; a 22-year-old woman who had what appeared to be a gunshot wound was taken to a hospital, treated and later released; Assistant Chief Jason Swaim said the investigation led to Ziyaire Spinks, 20, arrested and held without bond on charges of murder, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm on educational property; according to police, the shooting stemmed from an argument between two groups of people and Spinks was not a student; a second shooting happened less than an hour later, two people injured when gunfire erupted following an altercation, and authorities were investigating whether the two shootings were connected, with no arrests in the second case; Chief William Penn Jr. said authorities will find all of those responsible and asked people not to point fingers while the investigation is ongoing; university officials canceled the remainder of homecoming activities Sunday; Chancellor Brown called the shootings "senseless violence" and said the campus was secure with additional law enforcement remaining.
• Essentially Sports, 9 November 2026 — "Prayers Pour In After HBCU Basketball Player Identified As One of the Victims in the WSSU On-Campus Shooting" (https://www.essentiallysports.com/ncaa-college-basketball-news-prayers-pour-in-after-hbcu-basketball-player-identified-as-one-of-the-victims-in-the-wssu-on-campus-shooting-makyiah-ward/, read in full, 9 November 2026): a Winston-Salem State women's basketball player is among the people hurt in two shootings on campus during homecoming weekend; one person died and three were injured Saturday night; police identified Makyiah Ward among the victims, a sophomore guard on WSSU's roster, listed at 5-foot-5 and wearing No. 3; sources told HBCU Gameday she is in good condition and is expected to recover fully; Saturday was homecoming game day and the Rams played the Fayetteville State Broncos earlier that day; officers heard gunshots around 9:45 p.m. and found 19-year-old Peyton Izaia Patterson with a gunshot wound and he died at the scene; a second shooting was reported at 10:22 p.m. near Victory Circle and Cromartie Street, a 21-year-old man in critical but stable condition and a 20-year-old woman in stable condition, with a vehicle connected to the incident identified and no arrests as of Sunday afternoon; on Sunday police arrested Ziyaire Spinks, 20, charged with murder and felony possession of a firearm on educational property and held without bond; Assistant Chief Swaim said the shooting stemmed from an altercation between two groups and Spinks was not a student; NBC News reports that Cequon Warren Brower, 18, was also arrested in connection with the fighting and was not a student; NBC News reports police determined the first shooting was an isolated incident, while the Associated Press reported authorities were still investigating whether the two shootings were connected.
• InfoHandle, 9 November 2026 — "Winston-Salem State Cancels Homecoming After Two Campus Shootings Leave One Dead" (https://infohandle.net/2026/11/08/world-wssu-homecoming-shootings-november/, read in full, 9 November 2026): Winston-Salem State University shut down the remainder of homecoming weekend and canceled Monday classes after two separate shootings on campus Saturday night left one person dead and three others wounded; officers heard gunfire just after 9:45 p.m. near the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and found 19-year-old Peyton Izaia Patterson with a gunshot wound, and emergency personnel could not save him; a 22-year-old woman, later identified as Alyssa Janae Ellerbee, was shot in the same episode, taken to a hospital and released after treatment; Assistant Chief Swaim said the confrontation grew out of an argument between two groups not part of the student body; police charged 20-year-old Ziyaire Antonyo Spinks with murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and felony possession of a firearm on an educational campus, held without bond; 18-year-old Cequan Warren Brower was charged with affray in connection with the fight and neither suspect was enrolled at the university; the university said Patterson was not a student; a second shooting at 10:22 p.m. at Victory Circle and Cromartie Street left 21-year-old Najir Pearsall critically wounded and 20-year-old Makyiah Ward, a newcomer on the women's basketball team, shot and listed in stable condition, with a vehicle tied to that attack stopped elsewhere in the city and no arrests by Sunday afternoon; Chancellor Brown canceled homecoming programming including an event at Emmanuel Baptist Church, said Monday classes would not meet with classes resuming Tuesday at 8 a.m., and pledged extra police patrols and counseling; investigators are asking anyone with cellphone video from either scene to submit it through the department's tip line.
• City of Winston-Salem — Crime Stoppers Tip Form (official, https://www.CityofWS.org/FormCenter/Police-Department-19/Crime-Stoppers-Tip-Form-100, read 9 November 2026): anonymous tips through Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800; non-emergency police line 336-773-7700; Text-A-Tip program at 336-276-1717. Spanish Crime Stoppers line 336-728-3904 confirmed in Winston-Salem Police Department incident alerts reproduced at https://www.govserv.org/US/Winston-Salem/2366975013514632/Crime-Stoppers-of-Winston-Salem-Forsyth-County.
• Social scan, 9 November 2026: social.search (Instagram/Threads/Facebook, since 7 November 2026, 50 posts) returned the Winston-Salem State shootings prominently — the chancellor's official "Message to Our Ramily" statement, news graphics reporting one dead and three injured, and community prayer messages — alongside heavy Nancy Guthrie chatter (already published as DHF-003) and the Among Us Utah-teen rescue (already published as DHF-042). The trending call for this pick rests on the news record (Associated Press and CNN, 8 November; Essentially Sports and InfoHandle, 9 November) and the scale of that social response, stated honestly here. No claim in this file rests on a social-media post alone.
• No competitor article text or image is reproduced in this file. Facts are stated in Dark History Files' own words, with official material attributed to its source. No source beyond those listed above was relied on for facts in the draft. No search-volume numbers are stated, because no tool returned any.

Caption: Illustration of an empty college football stadium at dusk — atmospheric artwork, not a photograph of any place connected to this case, and not evidence.

Reader question: Homecoming is a night a campus plans for all year — and this one ended with a 19-year-old dead, three people wounded, and a second shooting still unsolved. While the police work the open half of this file, what should a university do first to keep the next homecoming safe?

RELATED FILES

• DHF-065 — Moss Landing Beach: Two Teens Killed, Man Charged — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/moss-landing-beach-two-teens-killed-man-charged.html
• DHF-062 — Lufkin Mother and Son Killed: Neighbour Charged — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/lufkin-mother-son-neighbour-charged-capital-murder.html
• DHF-050 — Spangle, Washington: Four Dead in a Family Shooting — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/spangle-washington-four-dead-family-shooting.html

Previous file: DHF-067 — Zachariah Schuck: DoorDash Driver Vanished in Pennsylvania — https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/2026/11/zachariah-schuck-doordash-driver-vanished-pennsylvania.html

Next file: (coming soon)

This file is based on public reporting and official statements available as of 9 November 2026. Read how every file is built on the About page (https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/p/about.html), or request a file via the Contact page (https://thedarkhistoryfiles.blogspot.com/p/contact.html).