MATTHEWS, N.C. - A Butler High School student shot and killed a fellow classmate during a fight in a crowded school hallway Monday, officials said, calling the incident a case of bullying that "escalated out of control" which had students scurrying to escape and parents rushing to campus to check on their children.
The student accused of firing the fatal shot was arrested quickly as investigators secured the campus at Butler High School in Matthews.
Matthews Police Department Capt. Stason Tyrrell identified the suspect at a news conference as Jatwan Craig Cuffie, a 16-year-old ninth-grader. He is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail.
Tyrrell identified the victim as Bobby McKeithen, 16, a 10th-grader at Butler.
Students remained inside with the school on lockdown for about two hours after the shooting.
According to Tyrrell, a school resource officer was in the school cafeteria at 7:14 a.m. when he and security officers heard a commotion and encountered students running in an adjacent hallway. Tyrrell said the resource officer encountered the victim, tried to give aid and called for a school lockdown.
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