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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A teenager was found in front of a judge Tuesday afternoon, accused of shooting a classmate at Butler High School Monday morning.
Police said that Jatwan Cuffie had been fighting with Bobby McKeithen, had pulled out a firearm and shot McKeithen in a corridor full of students a few minutes before the start of the first class of the day.
McKeithen died in the hospital.
His family gathered Tuesday morning to speak to the media and said that McKeithen should be remembered as a gentle, loving, caring and compassionate young man.
>> We had continuous coverage of chaos on campus. You can watch live updates on your Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
His parents, Bobby McKeithen and Ashley Mewborn, said they still have many questions about what happened Monday morning.
"You see your children at school, you never imagine it's their last moment," said Bobby's father.
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Her mother, Ashley Mewborn, asked everyone to remember her son as the kind and loving young man that he was – and not to listen to the rumors. She wants everyone to know that despite the fact that intimidation played a role in the shooting, her son was not a bully.
"It was not a tyrant," she said. "He took care of all his brothers and sisters and made sure that they were fine. He had the biggest heart, he had a heart of gold. Everyone loved him and he loved everyone.
Bobby's brother, Mario, also addressed these rumors.
"Bobby was a good brother," he says. "They said he was a bully, but in my life I have never seen him intimidate. Never associate with a bully. So, I do not know where it comes from. Everyone loved him. "
It was 10 am after Monday morning, when a shot rang out in one of the main halls of Butler High School. Police said the school's resource officer had found Cuffie, 16, a few minutes later in a nearby classroom, and arrested him without resistance.
An ambulance drove McKeithen to the hospital where he was operated on, but he died.
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His father, Bobby, spoke to Channel 9 on Tuesday.
"I'll miss him going to the prom, I'll miss him going to the baccalaureate, to the university," he said. "All this was stopped because of ignorance. That will not bring him back and make no mistake, I feel remorse for the family who shot, because she is about to lose a child – in the system. I do not have any hatred or ill will toward anyone about certain things, but in the end we have to come to the point as a community, as a state, as a nation – what are we doing to remedy this situation? problem and save our children? "
Ashley Mewborn had to tell her children that their brother was dead and now fear to send them to school.
"I do not feel good about it (send it to school)," she said. "I sent him to school as I was asked and he never went home. This should never happen. A child should not have been able to get in with a gun and shoot my baby, pull him in the side and kill him. This should never happen. I do not feel safe about the school system. I am worried about my other children now because it happened too easily. "
She added that the school district must ensure that students are safe at all costs.
"As parents, they do not give us instructions to make sure our children are safe. We do what is necessary. They should have to do the same thing. It's something that they must understand. I can not tell them what to do, but you have to do something. "
CMS offers ways to contact support:
- If a student needs immediate advice, he can contact a staff member directly.
- Counselors are available on campus through Student Services.
- Staff members are encouraged to contact if they need help. The LifeCare Employee Assistance Program is free for all employees.
- Students can come to Butler High for in-person counseling starting on Wednesday, October 31st during school hours.
Additional supports include:
- 24 hour Crisis Line in Mecklenburg County (FREE) 1-800-939-5911
- Mobile Crisis 704-566-3410 Option 1 (FREE service available in your area)
It is a time of trauma for the community and especially for the schools. According to the National Association of School Psychologists, there are effective ways to engage with students:
- Create a sense of security by resuming normal and predictable routines as soon as possible.
- Listen to their concerns and feelings.
- Suggest that they limit their use of the media to reduce stress and maintain balance and perspective.
- Be aware that sleep difficulties are common and can lead to fatigue and poor participation.
CMS Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said that intimidation may have played a role in the shooting.
"The first reports indicate that the conflict started with uncontrollable bullying, and while fear took hold of fear, a young man brought a gun to solve his problems," he said. .
But McKeithen's father has trouble believing it.
"It was easy to get along with him, so when you hear things like that, it bothers you a bit," he said. "I'm not here to say that children do not make mistakes because we all do it as a human being, but in the end, you know, it's more serious than the situation. It is for us to become a community to stop putting these guns on the street here and to allow innocent people to be injured. "
This year, CMS unveiled a new tool to fight against bullying. A student or parent can visit the district website and report bullying anonymously.
The link is also on each school's website.
When asked if he thought the school system should have intervened before the shooting, McKeithen's father said, "I think they should have done it." It was said that they had dropped the ball and that they were aware, and the students were talking about it. And if that was the case, we have on-site guidance counselors, we have officers on the spot, pull the student to the side, let's get to the bottom of things. Let's get rid of this problem before what happened yesterday.
He then asked, "Why do not we have metal detectors in the school? I mean, there is only one officer who can do a lot with the number of students at this school. If rumors were already circulating if a situation was already mentioned and that they were a little aware of the situation, we simply felt that there should have been greater vigilance. They come to tell us that our son has passed but no one could tell us that a situation was coming up? This part bothers me. We always want to wait for the situation to deteriorate, and then we talk about it. We may have been able to deal with this situation for a week or two without anyone talking about it. "
"At the end of the day, my son lost his life because of foolishness."
Statement from the Bobby McKeithen family:
"Bobby McKeithen's family would like to thank the Charlotte community for your prayers, and as parents, we never expected to send our son to school and he would not come home." of this tragedy about the lives of our family, our friends, and the community is immeasurable, but we are faithful and believe that God will follow us everywhere.This suffering we experience today is a suffering that no mother, no father, no sister, no brother should have to experience.While telling stories and rumors, we want everyone to know that the stories and rumors that Bobby is a bully are false.An untold number of teachers and friends expressed themselves and said he had never been known as a bully, his brothers and sisters, a child whose smile would make everyone smile, his family is already missing a lot. and our friends, but our nights and days are less clear because he's gone. We ask many questions, but we ask you to respect your privacy. from our family there at this time. "
Information on a candlelight vigil and funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.
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