Officials Say Bullying Led to NC School Shooting

A 16-year-old boy is dead and another is facing a first-degree murder charge after a school shooting that officials say was the result of "out of control" bullying. Police say Jatwan Craig Cuffie was taken into custody after Bobby McKeithen was fatally shot during a fight early Monday in a hallway outside the cafeteria at Butler High School in Matthews, NC, the Charlotte Observer reports. "First reports indicate that the conflict began with bullying that escalated out of control and as fear took over, a young person brought a gun to solve the problems," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox said Monday, per USA Today. Police did not disclose which student was the alleged bully, but said the shooting was "something that built up" over time, the New York Times reports.

"Several people knew about it—not knew there was going to be a shooting, but knew there was going to be a likelihood of some sort of altercation this morning," police Capt. Stason Tyrrell told reporters Monday. He said that within minutes of the shooting, a teacher informed officers that she was with the shooter, who wished to surrender. Wilcox said the district, which does not use metal detectors at its schools, is going to review security procedures. "I don't know how a young person gets a handgun in the state of North Carolina but we'll look into all those things and make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. (A mother in New Jersey may have prevented a school shooting in another state.)