GREENSBORO, N.C. — A man is dead and others are hurt after a shooting in Dudley High School's parking lot, Greensboro police say.
Officers were working security at the school's football game Friday when shots were fired in the parking lot area of the stadium.
Officers found two people with gunshot injuries and they were both taken to a nearby hospital.
Matthew Wayne Grant, 59, died from his injuries once he arrived at the hospital, police say.
A second male victim was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released from the hospital. In addition to the two victims, two pedestrians were hit by the suspect car. Both were treated for minor injuries.
One of the pedestrians hit was Dudley High School freshman, and football player, Javion Wilson.
So all I remember was, it was literally, the game was over and my mom had just left. She was on the way to work and there were shots fired in the parking lot," Wilson said.
It was moments later that he was hit by the suspect in their car.
"Right then and there I had got hit and it was like, I blacked out," Wilson remembered.
This incident is being investigated as a homicide, police say. There is no suspect information available at this time.
Wilson said the man who died, Matthew Grant, was a Dudley alum.
"We lost one of our supporters, and he was a part of our alumni," he said.
The Guilford County Schools Superintendent Whitney Oakley released this response to parents:
"In Friday, September 29, a shooting incident occurred after the Dudley High versus Smith High football game. The incident happened in the parking lot, within 50 feet of two police patrol cars, lights flashing.
I was at the game Friday night. The game was peaceful, well-planned and well-staffed by law enforcement and school staff. Yet, despite these efforts, as students, families and fans were leaving the campus after the game, one individual not believed to be affiliated with either school was shot and killed. Additionally, a Smith High student also suffered gunshot injuries, and two other individuals were injured by a vehicle and were treated and released. What should have been the beginning of Dudley’s homecoming celebration with fun and fanfare became a crime scene.
This must stop.
Incidents of violence have no place in our school community. This incident is not about Dudley High, Smith High, or any of our schools. It is about our willingness as a community to stop this senseless violence from happening on our campuses and in our communities.
I have said before that we have a gun epidemic in this country. Guns are too accessible and easy to fall into the wrong hands. Recent community violence trends and the incident on Friday further proved that truth, and it is clear that we as a community must do more to address violence.
We know that firearms have become the number one cause of death for children and adolescents in the United States. While the district cannot solve this gun crisis on our own, we will continue to collaborate with all three local law enforcement agencies in Guilford County, doing our part to address this crisis.
Guilford County Schools leaders are resolved to continue our work to keep our students, staff and visitors safe. School safety is a top priority for me, having been elevated to a key component in the district's four strategic direction focus areas. As part of this effort, the district deployed more than a dozen new tactics for our comprehensive school safety strategy listed below, including:
- Significantly expanding and restructuring our district’s school safety and emergency management
- office;
- Upgrading more than 2,000 cameras with advanced technology;
- Installing school bus cameras across the district;
- Adding touchless security scanners at all of our comprehensive middle and high schools;
- Employing safe entry points at athletic events;
- Implementing a clear bag policy at athletic events;
- Partnering and training with local law enforcement, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Management and fire department officials;
- Installing anonymous reporting capabilities on all district devices in grades three and up;
- Adding mental health supports for students and staff;
- Engaging students in leadership about this important issue;
- Revising our code of conduct;
- Providing staffing incentives for athletic events; and
- Implementing anti-bullying training and reporting procedures for staff to name a few.
My team and I have also been working with leaders across the community to address this problem. Solving this important issue requires a multi-layered approach and long-term commitment from our community as a whole.
While there is not one solution to solving the challenges we face, I invite you to join us in having courageous conversations and working together to improve the safety of our community. I also want to remind everyone to say something to a school staff member or law enforcement official if they see something suspicious and only share information you can personally verify."
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