Former Wake County principal dies 2 weeks after being shot in Wake Forest
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- Former Rolesville High principal Ericka Lucas died after being shot Aug. 29.
- Police charged two teens, including an unnamed 16-year-old, with her murder.
- Authorities said Lucas was not the intended target in Wake Forest shooting.
The former principal of Rolesville High School died Tuesday, almost two weeks after she was shot in Wake Forest.
Ericka Ruffin Lucas was shot Aug. 29, with officials saying she was not the intended target in the shooting that involved two teenagers.
Lucas, who was 56, was principal of Rolesville High School from 2013, when the school first opened, until 2016, when the first full class graduated. She was married to Wake Forest High School Football Coach Reggie Lucas.
The two teens were arrested and charged with murder. They are Dexter Lamont Mills, 18, of Wake Forest, and a 16-year-old juvenile, who was arrested Aug. 30.
The 16-year-old already had been charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, according to a news release. The teen’s name is not being released because of their age.
The shooting took place about an hour before the Wake Forest Cougars were scheduled to kick off against the Pride at Leesville Road High School, about 19 miles from the scene of the shooting in the 600 block of East Nelson Avenue.
Police declined last month to say what school the 16-year-old attends, and did not release any additional details about the shooting.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Wake Forest Police tip line at 919-435-9610. Anonymous tips will be accepted.
Mills was being held in the Wake County jail without bail as of Wednesday afternoon.
Former principal of new school
Lucas previously told The News and Observer, in 2016, that she enjoyed helping build the school’s culture.
The school’s first full class graduated that year, and she said it was a day she had looked forward to since the school’s beginning.
“I think I’m more excited than the kids are,” she said.
She left the school shortly after graduation. On July 1, 2016, she became director of the school system’s Second Chance Online Resource for Education, which helps suspended students continue their studies. She said she was shifting gears to spend more time with her family, with her husband regularly working nights as a football coach.
Before then, she was principal of East Wake School of Arts, Education and Global Studies from 2009 until her appointment at Rolesville High. She was a finalist for Wake’s Principal of the Year in 2012, back when East Wake High was split into four different small themed high schools.
According to Lucas’ LinkedIn page, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Elizabeth City State University and obtained her master’s degree in school administration from N.C. State. She began as a teacher at Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School in 1991, transitioning to assistant principal at Durant Road Middle School in 2003 and serving in various leadership roles throughout the school system after that, according to a Wake County Public School System spokesperson.
Lucas briefly retired in January 2020 before returning to work as a substitute teacher until March 2022, the spokesperson said.
Sebastian Shipp, an assistant principal at Milbrook Magnet High School, worked with Lucas for several years when East Wake High School was split into four learning communities. Lucas was principal of the school’s arts education and global studies program, while Shipp was assistant principal of the engineering systems program.
“There wasn’t an obstacle that she was afraid to tackle,” Shipp said Wednesday. “There wasn’t a challenge that was too big for her, because that’s who she was as a person.”
Shipp described his former colleague as a dedicated educator who put people first and never forgot a student.
“She always wanted to be sure that all of our students were seen and were heard and understood that they mattered and that their life had value to it,” he said. “She was very instrumental in making sure that students were purpose-driven in their work and in their pursuits.”
That attitude extended to everyone around her, according to Shipp.
“We all knew that Ericka supported each one of us in ways that always made us end up being better people,” he said.
Tammy Grubb and T. Keung Hui contributed to this story.
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 7:51 PM.