Police said a planned fight among young people escalated into gunfire near two schools, leaving five others wounded.
WINSTON-SALEM, NC — A planned fight among young people at Leinbach Park turned into a mass shooting Monday morning, killing two teenage boys and wounding five other people near a middle school as officers rushed to the scene, police said.
The shooting unfolded shortly before 10 a.m. at a public park off Robinhood Road, sending investigators, school officials and anxious families into a fast-moving response. Police said seven people in all were struck by gunfire, no arrests had been made by late Monday, and detectives were still sorting out who fired shots, who came to fight and whether some of the wounded were also involved. The violence shook a city already on edge over gun crime involving young people and closed one neighborhood park indefinitely.
Authorities said officers were dispatched at about 9:52 a.m. to Leinbach Park, at 3511 Sally Kirk Road, after reports of a fight involving several young people. By the time officers were on the way, police said, the confrontation had escalated and multiple people began shooting. Capt. Kevin Burns of the Winston-Salem Police Department said investigators believe the gathering had been arranged in advance. “Detectives are actively working to determine each individual’s role in this incident,” Burns said as police outlined the early timeline. Officers found one victim in the parking lot and another farther inside the park, then located additional wounded people nearby. The burst of violence happened in a residential area northwest of downtown Winston-Salem, close enough to Jefferson Middle School and Mount Tabor High School that both campuses were placed on secure status while police cleared the area.
Police later identified the two people who died as Erubey Romero Medina, 17, and Daniel Jimenez Millian, 16. Medina was found in the parking lot with a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Millian was found deeper inside the park and also died there. School officials said Millian was a student in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County district. Five other people were shot: a 14-year-old girl, a 15-year-old girl, a 17-year-old girl, an 18-year-old boy and a 19-year-old girl. Officials said their injuries ranged from critical to minor. Police Chief William Penn said the investigation remained fluid and that officers believed more than one person fired a gun. He said detectives had not yet answered some of the most basic questions by late Monday, including whether the boys who died were the people expected to fight or what started the dispute in the first place. Penn said some of those wounded may also have played a role in the shooting.
The attack rattled a part of Winston-Salem better known for homes, schools and neighborhood traffic than for a daytime crime scene packed with patrol cars. Leinbach Park sits near Jefferson Middle School, and officials moved quickly to reassure parents that the violence did not happen on school grounds. Superintendent Don Phipps said nearby campuses shifted into secure status “out of an abundance of caution” and that there was never a threat to students on any campus. Classes continued, though school leaders gave pickup instructions to families and urged calm as the investigation moved forward. The Robinhood Road Family YMCA nearby also closed after the shooting. John Blackwell, who said he was arriving at the YMCA when the gunfire aftermath unfolded, described frightened neighbors checking on one another. “They were scared to death,” he said of nearby residents, adding that the shots sounded as if they were exploding in front of homes. For many families in the area, the timing of the shooting in broad daylight deepened the fear.
By late afternoon, police had not announced any charges and said no one was in custody. Local television reports said suspects had been identified and located, but police did not publicly name anyone Monday or say whether those people would face charges. Instead, investigators emphasized that the case was still active and that they were working to separate witnesses, victims and possible shooters in a crowded, chaotic scene involving juveniles and young adults. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation joined the response. Roads near the park were closed for hours, including parts of Norman Road and Sally Kirk Road, while officers processed evidence and managed traffic. Leinbach Park was shut down until further notice. Penn said the case would likely depend on witness interviews, physical evidence and video gathered from the area. Police also asked residents and businesses to share camera footage from nearby properties, a sign that investigators are trying to rebuild the minutes before and after the gunfire with as much precision as possible.
City leaders responded with a mix of grief and anger as the scale of the shooting became clearer. Penn said he shared the community’s outrage, telling reporters, “I’m frustrated, I’m angry, I’m sad. This didn’t have to happen.” Mayor Allen Joines said he was deeply saddened and described the shooting as a blow to young people and the families around them. His statement focused on the fear and heartbreak left behind in a community where victims, witnesses and classmates may all know one another. That emotional reach was visible outside the formal briefings. Parents drove toward schools for updates. Neighbors stood along blocked roads as officers moved through the park. A mobile command vehicle and clusters of law enforcement officers remained at the scene for hours. The victims’ ages, all between 14 and 19, underscored the same grim point repeated throughout the day: this was violence among teenagers and young adults in a place where many families would normally expect children to feel safe.
What comes next will depend on how quickly investigators can sort out the roles of everyone who showed up at the park. Police said Monday that detectives were still determining who planned the fight, how many guns were fired and whether the wounded included suspected shooters. Authorities had not released a motive, had not explained what sparked the dispute and had not said whether more victims might be identified beyond the seven people already known to have been hit by gunfire. The next likely milestones are formal charging decisions, possible juvenile court proceedings if any suspects are under 18, and additional briefings from Winston-Salem police as interviews continue. For now, the official picture is this: two boys are dead, five more young people are recovering from gunshot wounds, nearby schools were placed on secure status but remained safe, and one public park is closed while investigators work through the evidence.
Author note: Last updated April 20, 2026.