CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on a fatal shooting at a North Carolina high school (all times local):
6:25 p.m.
An affidavit filed in connection with a fatal shooting at a North Carolina high school indicates a recent fight in a store parking lot may have sparked the shooting.
WSOC-TV in Charlotte reports a Mecklenburg County arrest affidavit, based on a police interview, said Jatwan Cuffie was involved in the fight last Friday with four other boys outside a grocery store. According to the affidavit, Bobby McKeithen wasn’t involved in the fight, but was asked his opinion as to who won.
The affidavit said Cuffie took a gun to school for protection Monday, and when the teenagers arrived at Butler High School, McKeithen punched Cuffie in the face as they stood in a hallway. According to the affidavit, Cuffie then shot McKeithen and went to a classroom, where a teacher took a bag with the gun.
Police in Matthews, a Charlotte-area suburb, said Tuesday the gun was reported as stolen in August.
Cuffie made a court appearance Tuesday, charged with first-degree murder. His public defender requested a low bond and that Cuffie be be placed in his mother’s custody. A bond hearing on the matter is set for Nov. 7.
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2:55 p.m.
A teen charged in the fatal shooting of a fellow student at a high school near Charlotte, North Carolina, has made an initial court appearance.
Jatwan Cuffie appeared Tuesday afternoon in Mecklenburg County District Court, wearing a green jumpsuit and shackles at the waist. The 16-year-old ninth grader is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 16-year-old Bobby McKeithen. Authorities say McKeithen, a 10th grader, was shot before classes began Monday at Butler High School in the community of Matthews.
Cuffie’s face showed virtually no emotion as Judge David Strickland addressed him. Public Defender Joel Adelman told Strickland that the teen poses no threat to the community and asked him to set bond at $10,000. He asked for Cuffie to be placed in his mother’s custody at their home with electric monitoring.
Strickland said a decision on bond would be made at a hearing on Nov. 7. Cuffie is currently being held without bond.
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2 p.m.
The family of a teen fatally shot at his North Carolina high school is remembering him as a brother with “the biggest heart” who loved sports and dancing.
The family of 16-year-old Bobby McKeithen spoke at a news conference Tuesday, a day after the 10th grader was killed before classes started at Butler High School.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said Monday that the shooting may have been related to bullying, but McKeithen’s family disputed the idea that McKeithen was a bully.
His mother, Ashley Mewborn, says she’s worried about her other children and wants the school system to do whatever it has to do to keep students safe.
Jatwan Craig Cuffie, the 16-year-old ninth-grader charged with first-degree murder in McKeithen’s death, is expected in court Tuesday.
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