North Carolina shooting: High school student shot dead with another pupil charged with murder

Victim was named as 16-year-old Bobby McKeithen

A student has been killed and another taken into custody and charged with murder, after a shooting at a high school in North Carolina, an incident apparently triggered by a dispute over bullying by two 16-year-old youths.

Police in the town of Matthews, 10 miles southeast of Charlotte, confirmed that a lockdown had been ordered at Butler High School after reports were received of shots being fired at around 7.15am. The lockdown was subsequently lifted and parents were able to collect their children

“We have responded to a shooting at Butler High School this morning. There is one student that has been shot that was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries at this time,” the city's police force said in a post on Facebook.

“Another student has been taken into custody. This is believed to be an isolated incident and the scene has now been secured by police. Information on releasing students to their parents will be coming soon.”

Local news channel WDBO said the victim had been taken to the Carolinas Medical Centre. It was later reported the victim had died from his injuries.

Television images showed groups of anxious parents standing close to the school, waiting for more information as to who had been hurt.

Police Supt Clayton Wilcox said during a press conference outside the school, that the suspected shooter, himself a student had been wounded, and was at that time undergoing surgery.

Mr Wilcox said the shooting occurred after a disagreement between two students. The disagreement occurred in a hallway and there were “many kids in the hallways when it took place”, he said, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Later, the victim was named as 16-year-old Bobby McKeithen.

Matthews Police Department Capt Stason Tyrrell said that another 16-year-old, Jatwan Craig Cuffie, had been detained and charged with first-degree murder. He was charged as an adult and is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said the shooting appeared to have stemmed from a case of bullying “that escalated out of control”. Neither Mr Wilcox nor Mr Tyrrell said which student was being bullied, the Associated Press said.

Earlier on Monday, the local education agency, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which is headquartered in Charlotte, said the single shooter had been apprehended and the weapon was in the possession of police.

"The single shooter has been apprehended and the weapon is in the possession of law enforcement," it said in a Facebook post. "Law enforcement has advised that there is no further immediate danger at this time and initial investigation shows this to be an isolated incident/"

Local media said parents had been told to meet at Elevation Church on East Independence Boulevard in Matthews.

The incident in North Carolina is just the latest in a constant wave of school shootings - a problem that has engulfed American and which officials are struggling to counter. President Donald Trump has suggested arming teachers is a way to tackle the problem, though many teachers and their unions, have rejected such an idea.