Five shot, one killed at large Zebulon party scene

Five people were shot and one was killed when a large late-night gathering in a field near Zebulon erupted into gunfire, turning Mack Todd Road and West Barbee Street into a homicide scene and forcing deputies to close the intersection while they worked through the night.

Wake County deputies responded around 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, after reports of multiple people shot in the field. Two men were found at the scene with gunshot wounds and were taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries. A third victim, 21-year-old Lemonz Feikhem Williams, was found with a gunshot wound and died at the scene despite life-saving efforts. Investigators later learned that an adult man and a juvenile also went to a local hospital with wounds believed tied to the same shooting, and those injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The scale of the gathering is now central to the public-safety questions surrounding the case. Video from the scene showed a makeshift stage, performers and large stacks of speakers before dark, with what appeared to be hundreds or even thousands of people packed into the rural property. Neighbors described young people coming to the area throughout the evening and said repeated gunfire shattered the party atmosphere. Social media posts suggested the event was being shared among North Carolina Central University students as an unofficial end-of-semester party, often referred to online as “Oil Spill,” but the university said it had no role in planning or sanctioning it.

The incident also raises questions about how such a large off-campus crowd was able to gather near a residential stretch outside Zebulon with no apparent supervision. The property near the intersection is owned by the Todd family, and the site has seen other large gatherings before. This was not the first unofficial NCCU-related event to prompt safety concerns either; a similar off-campus party in Person County in October 2025 ended in an SUV crash that injured four people.

By Thursday, no arrests had been announced and the intersection remained closed as investigators documented the scene and searched for evidence. Zebulon Mayor Jessica Daniels Harrison said the shooting happened outside town limits but still affected the broader community, while Sheriff Willie Rowe pledged accountability for the violence. For eastern Wake County, the episode left one young man dead, several others wounded and a familiar rural intersection under a harsh spotlight over how a massive party could turn into a deadly crime scene.