A second-year student in North Carolina killed by a stolen gun, authorities say



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Bobby McKeithen, 16, of Butler High School in Matthews, was shot dead by Jatwan Craig Cuffie, a 16-year-old freshman, after a fight in a hallway shortly after 7 am, announced Matthews police. Jatwan was charged with first degree murder and jailed without bail after a court appearance on Tuesday.

The suspect told the story of a scared teenager who had beaten a few days ago and who had brought the gun to the school to protect him, according to an affidavit of one. Matthews officer obtained by WSOC, an affiliate of CNN.

Matthews' police captain, Stason Tyrrell, said the altercation was picking up a few days before the killing and that several people knew it was likely to happen on Monday.

"We just had this information only after it happened," he said. School officials said that it was a case of uncontrollable bullying.

But Bobby's father, also known as Bobby McKeithen, told reporters Tuesday that his son was never a tyrant, and his friends and teachers will confirm it.

The suspect said that the fight led him to carry a gun to the school

According to the affidavit, Jatwan was allegedly involved in a fight Friday in a grocery store. He said that one of the other boys, whose names had been expurgated in the affidavit, had a knife.

The boys exchanged text messages over the weekend to find out who had won the fight, and there was talk of a new fight. According to the affidavit, Jatwan said that he no longer wanted to fight or fight in school.

After the shooting, Jatwan told the police that he had gone to get his gun in the woods before school because he needed it to protect himself, police wrote in the news. ; affidavit.

Jatwan claimed that at school, Bobby had punched him in the face, so the ninth grader had grabbed the gun in his pocket and fired once. He said that he was planning to shoot again to scare his classmate, but instead went to his math class. The gun was in a binder that a professor moved aside while both were waiting for the police.

Father pissed off by school officials

McKeithen said that he had learned since the death of his son that Bobby and Jatwan had quarreled, and he wondered why he had not heard of the quarrel up to ### 39, on the death of his son.

"Everyone was always attached to him because he was just laid back, he was cool, he was easy going with him," said Father.

The boy's mother, Ashley Mewborn, described young Bobby as "a gentle, loving, caring, compassionate young man who would succeed, if he had had the opportunity."

He loved sports and loved dancing, and he always took care of his brothers and sisters, she said.

"He had the biggest heart," she says. "He had a heart of gold, everyone loved him, and he loved everyone."

McKeithen said officials had told the family that their son had died "but no one can tell us that a situation was coming up – this part disturbs me," he said.

Police: stolen weapon in a vehicle

"I think rumors have already threatened him and that there was a problem of intimidation," said Joel Adelman, the suspect's public defender, out of court, according to WSOC. CNN's attempts to contact the lawyer were unsuccessful.

Jatwan did not plead during Tuesday's hearing. A bail hearing is scheduled for November 7th.

According to WSOC, Jatwan's parents attended the hearing but did not talk to the media.

Police Matthews said that the gun used in the shooting was stolen in August in a vehicle in the neighboring county of Gaston.

Jay Croft and Jamiel Lynch from CNN contributed to this report.

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