Forest Park police confirmed that shots were fired inside the athletic building at Winton Woods High School's North Campus on Tuesday evening, sending the Cincinnati-area school into lockdown before the shooter or shooters fled the scene. No injuries were reported, but officers say they found physical evidence confirming gunfire actually occurred inside the facility, not just nearby.
Police were dispatched to the campus at roughly 6:15 p.m. Tuesday after receiving reports of gunfire near the athletic building, according to WLWT. Responding officers located physical evidence upon entering the building that confirmed shots had indeed been fired inside, the station reported. A parent-shared email described to WHIO TV said the school had received reports of possible gunshots at the North Campus athletic building, prompting the lockdown.
Winton Woods Superintendent Steve Denny said no one was injured in the incident, a claim echoed by Forest Park police officials, per the same WHIO report. The lockdown was later lifted, and all students and staff were confirmed safe, according to the parent email cited in that account.
Suspect Still at Large, No Motive Released
The suspect or suspects fled the scene following the shooting, and as of late Tuesday night, no suspect descriptions or motive had been released, the WLWT report noted. The investigation remains active, and it is not yet known whether the shooter was a student, a trespasser, or how they gained access to the athletic building.
Winton Woods High School's North Campus sits along Waycross Road, sharing a contiguous civic campus with Central Park and Forest Park's municipal government complex. The district serves approximately 4,200 students across its northern Hamilton County campuses, located roughly 15 miles north of downtown Cincinnati.
Second Major Gun Incident on Campus in Two Years
Tuesday's shooting marks the second major firearm-related police response at Winton Woods High School in two years. In September 2024, a student was arrested after bringing a loaded gun into the school, facing charges that included inducing panic.
Under Ohio Revised Code § 2923.122, knowingly conveying or possessing a deadly weapon in a school safety zone is a fifth-degree felony, carrying six to twelve months in prison and fines up to $2,500, according to Ohio's revised code. While the state enacted permitless concealed carry for qualifying adults in 2022, it explicitly preserves prohibitions against unauthorized handguns inside K-12 school buildings, according to the Giffords Law Center.
A Community Already Familiar With Gun Violence
Forest Park, a Hamilton County suburb of roughly 20,100 residents, has recorded serious gun violence in recent years. In May 2025, Forest Park police investigated a fatal shooting that killed an 18-year-old and led to a murder arrest. The suburb records a violent crime rate of 260 offenses per 100,000 residents, according to AreaProfile, while Hamilton County overall reports an annual homicide rate of 9.9 per 100,000 residents as of 2026.
Tuesday's shooting also unfolded the same day Cincinnati police were investigating a separate double shooting near the University of Cincinnati Medical Center that left one person dead and another injured, a case unfolding just hours earlier and unrelated to the Winton Woods incident, per WLWT. No details have been released connecting the two cases, and it remains unclear whether surveillance footage captured Tuesday's shooter or what additional security measures, if any, the district may adopt in response.
