As reported by several US media, citing police, Monday morning at 7.15 local time, there was a dispute between two students of the Butler High School in the small town of Matthews in North Carolina. One of them was shot and later died of his injuries in the hospital.

According to first eyewitness reports, only the two students were involved in the dispute. "We heard a punch and then saw how they started fighting," said a classmate, Lester Henline, the local station WBTV. "Then he suddenly got a pistol out and everybody started running." A reporter posted photos of the cries for help that frightened students sent to their parents:

@WBTV_News pic.twitter.com/DrBZv1OUnA Chilling text messages from a Butler HS student to a mother who rushed to scene about school shooting @WBTV_News pic.twitter.com/DrBZv1OUnA

- Caroline Hicks WBTV (@ Caroline HicksTV) October 29, 2018

According to police, a student should have been detained. The school was temporarily sealed off after the incident.