Two teens are dead and five more were injured Monday in a shooting at a park in Winston-Salem, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Winston-Salem police told WXII that two groups of young people planned to fight at Leinbach Park on Sally Kirk Road, and that fight escalated to multiple people shooting each other. Officers said they were called to the park around 9:52 a.m.
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When they arrived, they found a 17-year-old dead in the parking lot and a 16-year-old dead further in the parking lot. Police said that five victims between 14 and 19 years old were also injured in the shooting.
Police said they believe more people were involved in the fight than the seven people who were shot, but added the shooting was confined to the park.
Officials said multiple people fired guns during the shooting. Winston-Salem police Chief William Penn said no one was in custody but authorities believe some of those injured may have also been involved in the shooting.
“I feel like everyone else. I’m frustrated, I’m angry, I’m sad. This didn’t have to happen,” Penn said.
Nearby, Jefferson Middle and Mount Tabor High School were locked down while police investigated, but classes continued as normal.
Multiple roads were closed in the area.
During a 4 p.m. press conference on Monday, authorities did not announce if anyone was charged in the fight, and did not share the names of the five who were injured in the fight. Police added that at this time, they do not believe the fight was gang-related.