Updated 6:20 a.m. Friday
According to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Jatwan Cuffie, a 16-year-old accused of fatally shooting a classmate at Butler High School last October, was released on bond just after 9 p.m. Thursday.
A judge set Cuffie's bond at $100,000.
Cuffie appeared in court Thursday on charges of second-degree murder. At the hearing, the judge released Cuffie on bond and ordered he wear an electronic monitoring device and be held on house arrest. Prior to the hearing, Cuffie had been held in the Mecklenburg County Jail without bond since the shooting.
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Cuffie is accused of killing fellow student Bobby McKeithen, 16, who was shot in the hallways of the Matthews high school just before the start of classes on Oct. 29. Authorities say the two boys had been fighting when Cuffie pulled out a gun and shot McKeithen.
Cuffie told police that the shooting stemmed from a fight that occurred a few days earlier off campus. He said he’d been scared the morning of the shooting and retrieved a gun from the woods on his way to the bus stop. Police have since said the gun used was stolen from a car in Gaston County.
Cuffie told authorities that he was in the hallway talking to a friend when McKeithen came up and punched him. The two then began the hallway fight that led to the shooting. After Cuffie shot McKeithen, authorities say he ran and turned himself into a teacher. He was taken into custody that morning.
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Originally, Cuffie had been charged with first-degree murder before the district attorney lessened his charges.
The shooting sent a shockwave through the community, prompting Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials to examine school security. CMS Superintendent Clayton Wilcox unveiled a plan earlier this month that beefs up security measures at district schools — measures that included upgraded building locks, cameras and random searches for weapons, using wands and metal detectors.
