David W. Butler High School was established in 1997 and is located in Matthews, North Carolina, United States. Butler's campus is. The mascot is the bulldog and school colors are black, red and silver.
Athletics
Football
Butler's football team has won 3 North Carolina State Championships and 11 overall Conference championships. In 2009, Butler won its first 4AA State Championship title at Carter-Finley Stadium defeating Jack Britt High School 48–17. In 2010, Butler repeated as North Carolina State 4AA Champions by defeating Rolesville High School 44–0, finishing the season on a 31-game winning streak. In 2012, Butler defeated Jack Britt High School 56-28 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, winning the NC 4AA state title for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. Undefeated Butler finished the 2012 season ranked number 1 in North Carolina and number 3 in the final USA Today 2012 National Super 25 Football Poll. In June 2019, MaxPreps reported that Butler is North Carolina's 'Most Dominant High School Football Program of the last 10 years".
Wrestling
Butler's wrestling team finished 4th in the NCHSAA 4-A dual team tournament during the 2007–2008 season. During the 2008–2009 season, Butler was the runner-up in the Wrestling 4-A Dual Team.
Butler's girls' basketball team won the state championship in 2009-10, and went 30-0 the following season before a premature loss to Mallard Creek in the Class 4A Western Regional semifinals cut their chance at a repeat short. Butler has finished in the top three spots of the conference standings nearly every year of its existence.
Shooting
At around 7:10 AM on October 29, 2018, an altercation between two students occurred in front of a main hallway known as 500. This led to one student being shot two to three times and triggering a lockdown that was lifted by 9:15 AM EDT. The victim, identified as Bobby McKeithen, was rushed to Carolinas Medical Center by helicopter, later dying of his injuries. The suspect, identified as Jatwan Cuffie, is currently out on bail and charged with second degree murder. After he shot McKeithen he came into a 500 hall classroom when the lockdown was called and turned himself in to a campus security officer minutes later, handing the gun over to him. In the weeks following, trained crisis counselors were available on campus as well as several police officers and police dogs to help keep everything safe. Although the police presence has decreased, the school has now implemented a strict security system consisting of random bag checks and metal wanding. The school, as of May 29, 2019, set up a memorial plaque in honor of McKeithen in the main entrance on the left side. On July 25, 2019, Cuffie pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 80 to 108 months in prison.
