Student charged after threatening to 'empty a clip' at Gray's Creek High won't attend graduation

On Thursday afternoon, the student who threatened to "empty a clip" at his Cumberland County high school made his first court appearance.

Dwight McCoy was supposed to walk across the stage in two months and graduate. Instead, he walked across the parking lot of the detention center and stood in front of a judge on Thursday.

The judge said McCoy will not be going to graduation.

Cameras weren’t allowed inside the court, but Dwight McCoy and his father had a lot to say about what led to the 19-year-old’s arrest. McCoy said the incident that forced a lockdown Wednesday at Gray's Creek High School started with him smoking in the bathroom, then escalated when he got caught.

"The man on the other side thought that I was cussing him out," McCoy said. "And then he walked and told the principal and then the principal came and grabbed me and then everything started happening downstairs."

"The man had him in a choke hold like George Floyd," said father Ivey McCoy. "Had his feet on his neck, my son kept saying, he can't breathe, he can't breathe. I had to snatch the [deputy] off him to get off my son, because he was going to kill him."

Authorities say McCoy threatened to shoot up the school. The principal put the school on code red lockdown.

No weapon was found.

"Weapon or no weapon, I would just say until an official message comes from the school, don't believe it," said Cumberland County Schools spokesman Lindsay Whitley. "Because so many times inaccurate information is shared via social media and that could cause families to be alarmed, unnecessarily."

McCoy faces some very serious felony charges, which include communicating threats at an educational facility and malicious violence.

School sources told WRAL News the student and father were being investigated after the student allegedly made the comment that he was going to “empty a clip on the school.”

"This type of charge can lead to imprisonment," said Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West. "It could lead to a final felony conviction, which is not going to allow you to finish school, not going to have you to have employment opportunities. It's just a serious crime because it's a serious threat to the community."

McCoy said the ordeal has taught him a tough lesson.

"I learned my lesson right now and everything," he said. "Not to do it again."

McCoy is out of jail on a $20,000 secured bond and will be monitored by Fayetteville Police. The judge said he can't go onto any educational facility campus, including Gray's Creek High School. McCoy's next court date is April 17.