Lawsuit from Cape Fear HS student shot at school has been settled

A lawsuit filed against Cumberland County Schools by a former student who was nearly killed in a school shooting in 2011 has been settled, the school board's lawyer said Friday.

Posted 9:34 p.m. Aug 17, 2018 — Updated 9:34 p.m. Aug 17, 2018

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A lawsuit filed against Cumberland County Schools by a former student who was nearly killed in a school shooting in 2011 has been settled, the school board’s lawyer said Friday.

Catilyn Abercrombie was shot in October 2011 while attending Cape Fear High School.

A trial for Abercrombie’s lawsuit was scheduled for Sept. 17.

Nick Sojka, the school board’s lawyer, said the school system would release details of the settlement once the terms are carried out and a dismissal is filed with the court. He said that is expected to happen within a month.

“We will report the terms and enter them into the minutes as soon as the settlement is concluded,” he said.

The settlement was reached after a mediation session on Wednesday, Sojka said. The school board discussed the lawsuit for about an hour during a closed session at its meeting Tuesday.

Charles Dexter Underwood Jr., who also was a student at Cape Fear in October 2011, brought a rifle to school to shoot another boy who had beaten up his cousin, according to statements made in court in 2013. He told a judge the rifle discharged when it was bumped by a swinging door.

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