CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A CMS principal found dead in his home apparently committed suicide the same day he was supposed to answer questions about a security breach involving a gun.
Sources say Northwest School of the Arts Principal Barry Bowe didn t show up for his meeting with administrators. That is when they tried calling him and eventually went to his house Monday in Huntersville where they found him dead.
Police say Bowe, 54, was in his car and the initial cause of death appears to be carbon monoxide poisoning.
Police also say no one else is involved in Bowe s death.
On Tuesday black clothing and the school s rock painted black were symbols of how students were mourning Bowe s death.
He cared about the school so much, and he cared about the students a lot. He had a vision for us, said student Taylor Harbold.
The security breach administrators wanted to talk to Bowe about stems from an incident December 17 when the school hosted a dance.
It was something that happened, we all got over it, said student Justina Hauss.
According to a police report, someone brought a gun, pointed it at a student and tried to pull the trigger but the gun didn't fire. That student ended up punched in the face.
CMS wanted to ask Bowe about the incident and the adequacy of that night s security.
Monday is also when parents circulated emails and Facebook posts, demanding answers from CMS about what parents call Bowe's forced resignation.
To say that he's negligent in the area of school safety is absurd. There have been much more egregious safety violations at other schools, said Virginia Brien, President of Friends of Northwest School of the Arts.
Emails call CMS' response excessive, rushed and short-sighted.
At a deeper level, it's about what kind of organization our school system wants to be, Brien said.
But CMS says Bowe wasn't punished in any way whatsoever and he was still the acting principal of Northwest School of the Arts when he died.
Yes, they were questioning him, but no, his fate wouldn't be decided until the investigation was over and it wasn't, CMS says.
CMS says a resign or be fired ultimatum is false.
Bowe's potential punishment depended on the findings. Options included nothing, suspension, resignation, retiring or firing.
I'm devastated like all the other kids. Dr. Bowe was a great guy. He knew all the students. He was always smiling and telling us Northwest is the best, Hauss said.
CMS had not named an interim principal.
Bowe had been with the district for four years, according to officials. Northwest is a magnet school for grades 6 through 12 on Beatties Ford Road.
