Police say a student was robbed at gunpoint at Knightdale High. Parents weren’t told.
Knightdale High School did not notify families that a student was arrested earlier this month on charges of bringing a gun to campus to rob another student.
Arrest records show that Cameron McCario Miles, 18, of Knightdale, was charged Sept. 2 with robbery with a dangerous weapon and having a gun on educational property. Knightdale Police say the arrest stems from a robbery that occurred on Sept. 1 near Knightdale High’s football stadium.
Knightdale Police Chief Lawrence Capps said that the victim and suspect, both identified as students, had spoken online about the sale of a pair of sneakers. They agreed to make the exchange on the morning of Sept. 1 near the roundabout by the stadium.
“Instead of producing money for the purchase, the suspect opened a bookbag and revealed the grip of a pistol,” Capps said in an email. “The suspect fled the scene after taking the shoes.”
Capps said the suspect also stole the victim’s iPhone and used the victim’s cash app to send money to unknown recipients.
The victim didn’t immediately notify school officials or the police about the incident, according to Capps. Instead, Capps said the victim reported the crime to his father who later contacted authorities.
The case was investigated by the school resource officer. Miles was arrested and charged the following day.
Lack of information
Lisa Luten, a Wake County school spokeswoman, said the school didn’t hear about the incident until after the fact and didn’t know that a firearm was involved. Luten also said that the school had not been contacted by any parents about the incident.
“We would notify parents to help answer their children’s questions,” Luten said in an interview Monday. “There were no questions.”
Incidents of guns being brought to school are rarer in Wake County that in districts such as Charlotte-Mecklenburg, which installed body scanners in high schools and middle schools.
The alleged armed robbery takes place a time when the issue of school safety has become a heated topic Wake has had recent highly publicized incidents such as a video showing a Green Hope High teacher being punched and knocked to the ground by the student.
This story was originally published September 19, 2022 at 5:05 PM.
