A student is expected to be OK after he was shot outside R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem Tuesday afternoon, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said.
The shooting was reported at about 3:45 p.m. No arrests have been made in the shooting as of Wednesday, officials said.
"Upon arrival of officers, one juvenile victim was located outside the school near the parking lot," police said. Kimbrough said the victim, a male student, is physically OK but may never be the same psychologically.
“He’ll never walk to same way again," Kimbrough said in a press conference Wednesday while providing an update on the shooting. "The wound may have not been life-threatening but it was life changing."
Police said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident.
An altercation happened outside the school, the sheriff said, and the student was shot in the leg and taken to Atrium Hospital.
Kimbrough said investigators are not sure whether the suspect or suspects are students at the high school.
Officers are asking for help by having residents register their cameras with Connect Winston-Salem. “Systems like this help us in times or crisis," Kimbrough said of the camera registering system. “Information is powerful. There may be information that you captured on your camera that puts the piece of this puzzle together.”
"Registering your cameras does not allow the Winston-Salem Police Department access to your live video stream - it only enables investigators to know a camera is present at your location and easily request video evidence should an incident occur," the site states.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Tricia McManus said students were back in school Wednesday with a crisis team on campus. As soon as school leaders learned of the shooting Tuesday, they went into lockdown mode, according to McManus.
Kimbrough said they were looking for one or multiple people in the shooting. According to District Attorney Jim O'Neal, a Dec. 1 law went into effect that changes how 16-17 year olds are punished for violent crimes. O'Neal said 16 and 17 year olds are going to be brought to adult court immediately.
"Punishment will be swift and severe," O'Neal said. The investigation is ongoing.