America’s nightmare reached Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Monday morning, as a fight between two students at suburban Butler High turned into a fatal shooting. 
 
 The clash in a hallway outside the school cafeteria left 16-year-old sophomore Bobby McKeithen dead and 16-year-old freshman Jatwan Craig Cuffie charged with first-degree murder. 
 
 Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said it “began with bullying that escalated out of control, and as fear took over a young person brought a gun to solve the problem.” He would not elaborate on the alleged bullying, but said investigators have found no evidence that Cuffie and McKeithen “had anything in common in terms of a beef that went on ... at school.” 
 
 Be the first to know. No one covers what is happening in our community better than we do. And with a digital subscription, you'll never miss a local story. SIGN ME UP! 
 
 Jatwan Craig Cuffie, 16, was charged with first-degree murder Monday in connection with the school shooting of fellow Butler High student Bobby McKeithen. Cuffie, 16, makes his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon. Mecklenburg County Jail 
 
 The Matthews high school, like counterparts across the country, has seen a surge of student activism, active shooter drills and intensified school safety procedures since a February mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla. As soon as word about the Butler shooting leaked out by text messages and social media, frightened parents mobbed the school, even as CMS tried to lock down the campus for emergency workers and police investigators. 
 
 According to an Education Week tally, it was the 22nd school shooting that resulted in death or injury in 2018. 
 
 Matthews Police Capt. Stason Tyrrell said a fight broke out in a hall near the school cafeteria around 7:15 a.m., as classes were about to start. Many students “witnessed this tragedy” and were rushed into the nearest classrooms, Wilcox said, but no one else was injured. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK The student who was killed was identified as 10th grader Bobby McKeithen. The shooting occurred after a disagreement between two students. 
 
 A school resource officer was nearby, and officials were able to aid the injured student and radio for help within the first minute of the shooting, Tyrrell said. 
 
 For almost 10 minutes, as officers converged, Tyrrell said no one was sure where the shooter was or whether there was more than one armed person. Then a Butler teacher let officers know she was with the young man who admitted to the shooting and was ready to surrender, Tyrrell said. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK CMS Superintendent Clayton Wilcox first reports indicate that the Butler High shooting and death of a student was from bullying that escalated out of control on Monday, October 29, 2018. 
 
 McKeithen was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, police said, where he died. 
 
 Classmates described McKeithen as a good friend who loved basketball and the video game Fortnite. 
 
 “He was really funny, like, when I would have problems with something at school or something at home, he always helped me,” said 10th-grader Gabby Kaminsky, who called McKeithen a best friend. “He wanted to graduate early, I know he talked to me about that before.” 
 
 never thought there would be a day where i wouldn’t see your smile, you are always going to have the biggest chunk of my heart. thank you bobby mckeithen for making my life better. thank you for everything️ #LLB pic.twitter.com/2iwu2O25gJ — Jonna Henry (@issajonna1) October 29, 2018 
 
 “He never gave up on you or your friendship with him, no matter if things got rough,” said 10th-grader Tiana Scrofani. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK One student was shot and killed at Butler high school early Monday morning after an argument in the hallway. 
 
 Wilcox said school officials were not sure how the suspect was able to get a gun into the school, but noted that not all bags brought onto campus are “actively” searched by the staff and that CMS does not use metal detectors. 
 
 “We’ve worked really hard on school security the last six or seven months,” Wilcox said. “We are going to review all our procedures, we are going to review our security plans and perhaps will do things that are a little more aggressive.” 
 
 Appropriate response? 
 
 The school, which has about 2,100 students, stayed on lockdown for the first 90-minute period, according to students and parents. 
 
 “My teacher made us put desks in front of the door and shut the lights, and they were saying: ‘This is not a drill’ ... so everyone in my classroom was really scared,” said Kaminsky, the 10th-grader. “I had texted my mom. A lot of people were on their phones, and the teachers wouldn’t let anybody leave..” 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Student captures chaotic scene at Butler high school after school shooting. 
 
 About an hour after the incident, the district announced that there had been a shooting and parents were being notified by phone calls. At that time, CMS said no one would be allowed on campus “until the lockdown has been lifted by law enforcement.” 
 
 But parents were already streaming toward the school. 
 
 WSOC reported that angry parents were gathering around the campus, despite being told they were to wait for updates at nearby Elevation Church on East Independence Boulevard. Even before CMS began letting parents sign their students out, some students were leaving. 
 
 “We made him sneak out the back door,” Scott Simpson said as he walked off campus with his ninth-grade son, Brody. Simpson said he was dismayed that Butler stayed open and asked students to go to their second-period classes. “They’re changing classes during an active crime scene,” he said. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK CMS Super Wilcox says that the school system needs to find a better way to communicate with all the communities it serves following the shooting and death of a Butler High student on Monday, October 29, 2018. 
 
 At a Monday afternoon news conference, Wilcox defended that decision, saying it would have been a mistake to dismiss students before transportation with their families could be lined up. “What would they have said to us if they would have come to school and we couldn’t locate their children? I think their fear would have been magnified,” Wilcox said. 
 
 Wilcox praised Butler students and staff for the way they reacted, saying that students remained calm and orderly because “they understood that panic in a difficult situation would only lead to more confusion.” 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Butler High School in Matthews was put on lockdown early Monday after a student was shot on campus inside one of the buildings, reports a Facebook post by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. 
 
 Butler will not have classes Tuesday to give students and teachers a chance to process what happened, Wilcox said Monday afternoon. Wednesday is a scheduled teacher workday, Wilcox said, and staff will be able to come to Butler if they want. 
 
 CMS officials posted on Facebook that counseling is being made available for students and staff. “The Butler High School community and CMS appreciate the support of the entire community during this difficult time,” said the post. 
 
 Wider attention 
 
 The shooting brought statements of support and sympathy from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Superintendent Mark Johnson, both of whom said they had contacted local officials and offered support. 
 
 “As we get more information it is critical that we come together to do everything in our power to prevent these incidents from happening and keep guns out of our schools,” Cooper stated. 
 
 The Matthews death comes amid a grim drumbeat of students dying in school gunfire. 
 
 Education Week has tallied 22 school shootings in 2018 that have resulted in 35 deaths and 77 injuries. Students accounted for 28 of the deaths. That tally includes a domestic dispute between adults in a school parking lot, a handful of shootings at football games and an incident in which a teacher accidentally fired a gun during a gun safety lesson. 
 
 It also includes highly publicized mass shootings in Parkland and Santa Fe, Texas. 
 
 The North Carolina House created a select committee on school safety earlier this year. It has been holding meetings around the state this month. 
 
 Wilcox, who became superintendent in July 2017, inherited a district that traditionally leads North Carolina in the number of guns confiscated on school grounds — almost always without shots being fired. 
 
 The last time a student was shot in a CMS school appears to be in 2003, when a student brought a loaded gun to East Mecklenburg High and a student sustained minor injuries when the gun went off accidentally, according to Observer reports at the time. 
 
 In February, when Wilcox was reacting to a report that showed guns at CMS had reached a 10-year high in the previous school year, he said the saving grace was that students tended to let adults know if a classmate brought a gun, averting violence. 
 
 He noted that reliance on cooperation at Monday afternoon’s briefing. 
 
 “Today,” Wilcox said, “that simply wasn’t enough.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Butler High students talk about the shooting and what procedure took place in the moments after on Monday, October 29, 2018 in Matthews, NC. 
 
 Gavin Off, Cassie Cope and Theoden Janes contributed to this story. ||||| A North Carolina high school student shot and killed a fellow student during a fight in a crowded school hallway Monday, officials said, prompting a lockdown and generating an atmosphere of chaos and fear as dozens of parents rushed to the school to make sure their children were safe. 
 
 The student accused of firing the fatal shot was arrested quickly as investigators secured the campus at Butler High School in Matthews, about 12 miles (19 kms) southeast of Charlotte, said Matthews Police Department Capt. Stason Tyrrell. Students remained inside with the school on lockdown for about two hours after the shooting. 
 
 The male student who was shot died at a hospital, Tyrrell said. He said the suspect, also male, was quickly taken into custody by a school resource officer as others rushed to the scene as backup. Investigators have the weapon used, but have not said what it is. Neither the suspect nor the victim's names or ages were immediately released. 
 
 "We were able to review the surveillance video of the shooting, which was a fight between the two students," Tyrrell said, describing it as an "isolated incident." 
 
 Tyrrell said the shooting happened in a hallway as crowds of students arrived for the day. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said that many students witnessed the shooting, and counselors and psychologists were available. 
 
 "There were many kids in the hallway when this happened," he said. 
 
 "We're incredibly saddened by the fact that we had a loss of life on one of our campuses today. What makes it doubly difficult is that it was one of our students who was the shooter," he said. 
 
 While police have not confirmed what kind of gun was used, Wilcox said: "I don't know how a young person gets a handgun in the state of North Carolina." He said the system was reviewing its security procedures. 
 
 By late morning, school officials said that the lockdown was lifted and families could pick up students at the main entrance. Classes were proceeding for students who remained on campus. The diverse student body of about 2,000 at the school in North Carolina's most populous county is about one-third white, one-third African-American and one-quarter Hispanic. 
 
 Before the lockdown was lifted, dozens of parents gathered outside of the school to await word on the students. Multiple parents told local television channels that they felt confused and unsure about where to meet with their children. 
 
 Television footage showed students streaming out, with many crying and hugging parents. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/JonathanLDrew ||||| Empty school buses leave after a shooting at Noblesville West Middle School in Noblesville, Ind., on Friday, May 25, 2018. A male student opened fire at the suburban Indianapolis school wounding another... (Associated Press) 
 
 Empty school buses leave after a shooting at Noblesville West Middle School in Noblesville, Ind., on Friday, May 25, 2018. A male student opened fire at the suburban Indianapolis school wounding another... (Associated Press) 
 
 NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — The Latest on a possible shooting at an Indiana middle school (all times local): 
 
 4:40 p.m. 
 
 An Arizona man says his brother, an Indiana teacher, has undergone surgery after being shot three times when he intervened in a school shooting at his middle school. 
 
 Indianapolis news media identified Jason Seaman as the Noblesville West Middle School teacher who a student says tackled the shooter after he fired four to six shots inside a science classroom Friday morning. 
 
 Jeremy Seaman tells The Indianapolis Star that his brother was conscious after the shooting and talked with his wife, telling her he was OK. 
 
 Jeremy Seaman says his brother was a defensive end for Southern Illinois University's football team and has never been a person to run away. 
 
 Seventh-grader Ethan Stonebraker says Seaman ran at the shooter "swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground." 
 
 __ 
 
 3:25 p.m. 
 
 A police spokesman say several search warrants have been obtained as investigators work to determine how a suburban Indianapolis middle school student obtained the handguns he brought to a classroom where he shot a teacher and another student. 
 
 Noblesville police Lt. Bruce Barnes declined to say whether the male student was targeting anyone during Friday morning's shooting at Noblesville West Middle School. Barnes said the suspected shooter wasn't injured and wouldn't comment on whether the student had been in trouble before. 
 
 The police chief says the student asked to be excused from class, then returned with two handguns and opened fire. Jowitt says the student was quickly taken into custody. He didn't confirm accounts that the teacher tackled the shooter after he fired four to six shots. 
 
 The wounded teacher and student were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. Officials haven't released information on the severity of their injuries. 
 
 __ 
 
 2:25 p.m. 
 
 A police chief says an Indiana middle school student asked to be excused from class, then returned with two handguns and opened fire. 
 
 Noblesville police Chief Kevin Jowitt says a student and teacher suffered gunshot wounds in the Friday morning attack at Noblesville West Middle School. 
 
 Jowitt says the student was quickly taken into custody and didn't confirm accounts that the teacher tackled the shooter after he fired four to six shots. 
 
 The wounded teacher and student were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. Officials haven't released information on the severity of their injuries. 
 
 __ 
 
 1:50 p.m. 
 
 A student at an Indiana middle school says he saw his science teacher tackle a fellow student who fired shots inside the classroom. 
 
 Seventh-grader Ethan Stonebraker says the class was taking a test at Noblesville West Middle School when the student walked in late, pulled out a gun and started firing. 
 
 He says the teacher "immediately ran at him, swatted a gun out of his hand and tackled him to the ground." Stonebraker adds, "if it weren't for him, more of us would have been injured for sure." 
 
 The teacher and a student were injured in the shooting. Authorities didn't have any information about their conditions. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:30 p.m. 
 
 A mother was so shaken up that she had to be driven to the suburban Indianapolis middle school where a teacher and student were injured in a shooting. 
 
 Jennifer Morris appeared slightly dazed as she arrived Friday at a high school gymnasium to pick up her 14-year-old son Noah, who's a student at Noblesville West Middle School. 
 
 She says she was at work Friday morning when her son sent a text message about the shooting, stunning her. She says the message was "I'm OK, please come get me." 
 
 Officials say the teacher and student who were wounded in the attack were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. The severity of their injuries is unknown. 
 
 Authorities say a male student at the school is in custody as the suspected shooter. Details about what happened during the shooting haven't been released. 
 
 __ 
 
 1 p.m. 
 
 An eighth-grader says he counted 16 gunshots inside his suburban Indianapolis middle school during a shooting that authorities say left a student and a teacher injured. 
 
 Thirteen-year-old Chris Navarro says he was in an auditorium at Noblesville West Middle School when he heard the shots Friday morning about a minute before the bell rang for the change in classes. He says a lockdown was immediately announced over the school's speaker. He rushed into a small room with three other people to hide. 
 
 Navarro spoke as he was reunited with his parents outside Noblesville High School, where the middle school students were bused after the shooting. 
 
 The teacher and student who were wounded in the attack were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. The severity of their injuries is unknown. 
 
 Authorities say a male student at the school is in custody as the suspected shooter. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:30 a.m. 
 
 Authorities say the suspect in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis middle school shooting is a male student and the victims are a teacher and another student. 
 
 Noblesville police Chief Kevin Jowitt says the student suspected in Friday morning's shooting at Noblesville West Middle School is in custody and is believed to have acted alone. 
 
 The teacher and student who were wounded in the attack were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. The severity of their injuries is unknown. 
 
 After the attack, students at the 1,300-pupil middle school were bused to the nearby high school so that their families could retrieve them. 
 
 Noblesville, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis, is home to about 50,000 people. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:55 a.m. 
 
 Scores of parents have arrived at a suburban Indianapolis high school to pick up their children after a shooting at a nearby middle school in which a child and an adult were injured. 
 
 Erica Higgins was at Noblesville High School to pick up her son after Friday morning's shooting at Noblesville West Middle School, which she learned about at home when a relative called her. 
 
 Higgins told WTHR-TV that her son was shaken up but that he knew little of what happened. 
 
 She says: "I got a 'Mom, I'm scared' text message and other than that, it was 'come get me at the high school,'" 
 
 An Indiana University Health spokeswoman Danielle Sirilla says the adult victim was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital and the child was taken to Riley Hospital for Children. She didn't know the seriousness of their injuries. 
 
 Authorities say the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. 
 
 __ 
 
 10:45 a.m. 
 
 An official says an adult and a child were injured in a shooting at an Indiana middle school and were taken to hospitals in Indianapolis. 
 
 Indiana University Health spokeswoman Danielle Sirilla said the adult victim in Friday morning's attack at Noblesville West Middle School northeast of Indianapolis was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital and the child was taken to Riley Hospital for Children. She had no information on their ages or the seriousness of their injuries. 
 
 Authorities say the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No further details were provided about the suspect, victim or possible motive for the attack. 
 
 Afterward, students were bused to the Noblesville High School gym, where their families could retrieve them. 
 
 Noblesville, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis, is home to about 50,000 people. The middle school has about 1,300 students from grades 6-8. 
 
 The attack comes a week after an attack at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, that killed eight students and two teachers. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:15 a.m. 
 
 Authorities say two victims in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis middle school are being taken to a hospital and the lone suspect is in custody. 
 
 Bryant Orem, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, says in a news release that the victims in Friday morning's attack at Noblesville West Middle School are being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and their families have been notified. He says no other information is available about the victims. 
 
 Orem says the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No additional information about the suspect was made public. 
 
 Helicopter footage showed students being led from the school to buses north of Indianapolis. Orem says they were being taken to Noblesville High School's gym, where their families can pick them up. 
 
 The attack comes a week after an attack at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, that killed eight students and two teachers. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This item has been corrected to reflect that the shooting was at a middle school, not a hospital. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:50 a.m. 
 
 Authorities have detained someone in what they described as an "active shooter" situation at a suburban Indianapolis middle school. 
 
 The Noblesville Fire Department tweeted Friday morning that it was on an "active shooter" scene at Noblesville West Middle School and that a suspect was in custody. It didn't say whether anyone had been shot or provide any other details. 
 
 TV helicopter footage shows students being led out of the school and onto buses. 
 
 Noblesville is north of Indianapolis.
– A fight in a high school hallway led to an all too familiar outcome Monday morning: a shooting that left a student dead. But Butler High School in Matthews, NC, also is drawing attention for its decision to resume classes less than two hours after the altercation. Police say two male students fought in a crowded hallway as students were arriving for the day, reports the AP. One student shot the other, who died at the hospital, and the alleged shooter is in custody, reports WRAL. A junior at the school tells the Charlotte Observer that students were ordered into the nearest classroom for about 90 minutes, then allowed to proceed to their scheduled class once the lockdown was lifted. “They’re changing classes during an active crime scene,” says one parent critical of the decision to resume a normal school day. It appears to have been optional, however. After police gave the all-clear, the school district informed parents they could pick up their children at the high school, adding that "classes will proceed on campus today for students remaining on campus." Police are still investigating how the shooter was able to bring the gun into the school itself. (Authorities say this would-be school shooter appears to have been foiled by his own gun.)