The Winston-Salem State shooting that killed 19-year-old Peyton Patterson has turned one of the CIAA’s most cherished weekends into a time of mourning. Two separate shootings broke out on campus Saturday night, Nov. 7, as thousands of alumni filled the hill for homecoming. One young man died. Three other people suffered gunshot wounds.

Now, Ram Nation is left with grief and a long list of hard questions.

What happened Saturday night

Officers on campus heard gunfire at about 9:45 p.m., according to Winston-Salem police. They found Patterson with a gunshot wound and attempted lifesaving measures. Sadly, he died at the scene. A woman, later identified as Alyssa Ellerbee, also took a bullet. Doctors treated her at a local hospital and released her.

Less than an hour later, a second call came in. This time, officers responded near Victory Circle and Cromartie Street. There, gunfire had struck Najir Pearsall and Makyiah Ward.

Ward plays for the Winston-Salem State women’s basketball team. HBCU Gameday confirmed she is the same Makyiah Ward listed on the Rams’ roster. She is recovering, according to the outlet.

At first, Assistant Police Chief Jason Swaim said it was too early to tell whether the two shootings were connected. Authorities have described them as two separate incidents.

Arrest made in the first Winston-Salem State shooting

Investigators moved quickly on the first case. Police charged 20-year-old Ziyaire Spinks with murder and other offenses, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, Cequan Brower faces a misdemeanor affray charge.

Details presented in court Monday offered a glimpse of how the night unraveled. According to that account, a group of young men approached several women and asked for their social media information. An argument followed. It turned physical. Then came the gunshots.

Notably, none of the three men, Patterson, Spinks or Brower, attended Winston-Salem State.

As of Monday, police had not announced an arrest in the second shooting. Both cases remain open. Anyone charged is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

A homecoming that ended far too soon

Saturday started like any other WSSU homecoming. The Rams hosted rival Fayetteville State at Bowman Gray Stadium. Afterward, crowds made the familiar walk across the bridge and up Martin Luther King Jr. Drive toward campus. Greek plots filled up. Old classmates found each other near the Breezeway.

By Sunday, the celebration had ended. University officials called off the remaining homecoming events. They also canceled Monday classes so students could begin to process what they had seen.

Steven J. Gaither, the HBCU Gameday founder and a WSSU alum, captured that whiplash in a personal column published Tuesday. He left campus around 7:45 p.m. Before then, he noticed the crowd growing thicker and younger. Some visitors even asked him for directions to buildings any student would know.

That detail matters. It points to a problem bigger than one night.

Gaither also wrote that he heard fellow alumni say they felt unsafe at homecoming for the first time. Coming from graduates who have made the trip for decades, that admission carries real weight.

Campus security questions follow the Winston-Salem State shooting

WSSU’s layout makes crowd control hard. Unlike some HBCUs with gated entrances, the campus sits open to the city around it. Foot traffic pours in from several directions. During a homecoming that draws thousands, that openness becomes a weak point.

Still, this problem stretches beyond one university. Last fall, homecoming weekends at South Carolina State, Alcorn State and Lincoln University of Pennsylvania all ended in deadly violence. Each time, the pattern looked similar. A joyful gathering drew a wave of people with no tie to the school. Then a small dispute escalated.

That pattern puts pressure on everyone involved. Campus police carry part of the load. So do city officers, who now lead the criminal investigations. University leaders, city officials and community groups all have a role to play as well.

Several questions now hang over the school. How many officers are enough for an event of this size? Should certain areas close after dark? Can schools keep the open-door spirit of homecoming without putting students at risk?

Those answers will take time. However, the people who love this campus deserve them, and soon.

Ram Nation grieves together

For Winston-Salem State, the timing stings. The university has spent the past year building real momentum. Tierra Terry’s women’s basketball team went 28-4 last season and won the program’s first CIAA tournament title. Jay Butler arrived from Virginia Union to take over the men’s program. Even the football team snapped a long losing streak last month with a blowout win over Bluefield State.

Homecoming was supposed to celebrate all of that. The Winston-Salem State shooting will not erase that progress. Still, it will shape how people remember this fall.

This week, students walked back into class carrying something heavy. Some saw the violence firsthand. Others simply know it happened steps from their dorms. Ward’s teammates, meanwhile, open a new season with one of their own healing from a gunshot wound.

And one family is mourning a 19-year-old who never made it home.

Founded in 1892, WSSU has weathered hard moments before. This one will test the bonds that keep alumni coming back every fall. Ram Nation will remember Peyton Patterson. Next, it must decide what homecoming should look like from here.