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.” 
 
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 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
– 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.)