When the phone buzzes with an emergency alert in Winston-Salem, your heart usually skips a beat. Honestly, the first thing people do is scramble for Twitter or local news sites to see if the "big one" happened. If you’re searching for the Wake Forest shooting today, you’re likely seeing a mix of old headlines, neighborhood rumors, and fragmented police scanner chatter that makes everything feel ten times worse than it might actually be.
Right now, there is a massive amount of confusion.
People often conflate the Town of Wake Forest (near Raleigh) with Wake Forest University (in Winston-Salem). This morning, rumors started swirling about police activity, and within minutes, the term Wake Forest shooting today was trending. But here is the reality: as of January 15, 2026, there is no active shooter event on the Wake Forest University campus.
Safety alerts did go out recently, but they weren't about a mass casualty event. They were about a specific, isolated incident involving a fondling report near the North Campus Apartments and some localized police activity in the surrounding Winston-Salem area.
Why the rumors started flying
Social media is a weird place. Someone sees a cop car with lights on near Reynolda Road and suddenly "shots fired" is all over the group chats. It's scary. We've seen real tragedies at the university before—like the 2018 shooting of Najee Ali Baker—and that trauma doesn't just go away. It lingers. So, when people hear "Wake Forest" and "police" in the same sentence, they jump to the worst-case scenario.
Earlier this week, there was also a report of a shooting in the Town of Wake Forest (not the university) that involved a domestic dispute.
It's easy to see how the wires get crossed.
The actual police activity in Winston-Salem
If you’re seeing heavy police presence today, it’s likely tied to ongoing investigations into local property crimes or the recent "high-risk" missing person cases that have kept the Winston-Salem Police Department (WSPD) busy. For example, WSPD spent a significant portion of the last 24 hours locating a missing 16-year-old near Brenner Children's Hospital.
👉 See also: Is Trump in Michigan Today? What Really Happened During His Recent Visit
When searching for the Wake Forest shooting today, you’re often hitting "ghost results." These are snippets of news from 2025 or even 2021 that Google’s algorithm surfaces because they have high engagement. It's frustrating and, frankly, dangerous when you just want to know if your kid is safe in their dorm.
Understanding the Wake Alert system
Wake Forest University uses a system called "Wake Alert." If there were a real, present danger like an active shooter, here is what actually happens:
- A siren sounds on campus (it’s loud, you can’t miss it).
- Every student and staff member gets a text and an email simultaneously.
- The "Wake Safe" app pushes a notification that locks the screen.
- The homepage of the university switches to a banner-only emergency mode.
If those four things haven't happened, the "shooting" report is almost certainly a neighborhood-level incident that doesn't involve the student body.
💡 You might also like: Powerball numbers for November 11th: What Most People Get Wrong
The difference between WFU and the Town of Wake Forest
This is a classic North Carolina headache. The university moved to Winston-Salem in the 1950s but kept the name. The town of Wake Forest remained near Raleigh.
Often, a shooting in a parking lot in the town of Wake Forest gets tagged as Wake Forest shooting today, and parents 100 miles away in Winston-Salem start panicking. Today, the police activity being discussed in local North Carolina forums appears to be a mix of these two locations.
Always check the zip code of the report. If it’s 27106, it’s the university area. If it’s 27587, it’s the town near Raleigh.
What to do right now
Don't rely on TikTok for news. Seriously.
👉 See also: San Marcos Obituaries Texas: Why Local Records Are Harder to Find Than You Think
If you are worried about the Wake Forest shooting today, the fastest way to get the truth is the official Wake Alert site (wakealert.wfu.edu). They are legally required under the Clery Act to post timely warnings about threats to the campus community.
Currently, the most recent "Community Safety Advisory" from the university police (Winston-Salem) was regarding a fondling incident on January 9, 2026. There is no active "shots fired" alert on their dashboard as of this afternoon.
Actionable steps for staying informed
Stay calm. Verify. Then move.
- Download the Wake Safe App: This is the most direct line of communication. It bypasses the "rumor mill" of social media.
- Check the Daily Crime Log: WFU Police maintain a digital log of every single incident. If a gun was brandished or a shot was fired, it will appear there within 24 hours, even if it wasn't a "mass" emergency.
- Cross-reference with WSPD: If the incident is off-campus but nearby (like in Reynolda Village), it might be handled by Winston-Salem Police rather than Campus Police. Check their official X (Twitter) account.
- Set up Google Alerts for specific keywords: Use "Wake Forest University Emergency" rather than just "Wake Forest shooting" to filter out the noise from the town of the same name.
Everything feels high-stakes right now because of the general climate of 2026, but today, the rumors appear to be just that—rumors.