Tom Nicholson was one of four people fatally shot on July 17, 1988, during a mass shooting on Old Salisbury Road in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The shooter, Michael Charles Hayes, shot nine people that day, killing four and wounding five. Hayes later said he believed the victims were demons and needed to be killed.

Hayes went to trial beginning March 27, 1989; the jury found him guilty by reason of insanity and he was committed to Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital. The verdict provoked widespread controversy across the state and prompted efforts in the N.C. General Assembly to change the law on insanity verdicts. Hayes’ yearly petitions for release have continued to draw protest and scrutiny from victims’ families and the community.

Anyone who knew Tom Nicholson or has recollections of the Old Salisbury Road shooting is asked to share information or memories.