Baltimore, school board sued in high school shooting

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 6, 2003 by Peter Geier

A young man shot at Baltimore's Lake Clifton Eastern High School filed a $1 million negligence action yesterday against the city, the school board and the convicted shooter currently serving a 30-year sentence for the incident.

Lawrence M. Grant, 18, claims that the city and New Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners were negligent in allowing Brandon L. Bayne, 17 -- a fellow student with a history of violence and gun possession -- onto school premises with a handgun.

The complaint alleges that Bayne "had been reported on prior occasions of possessing a gun," yet "was allowed to enter the premises with a gun" on Sept. 20, 2001, a school day. He shot Grant with a .22 caliber handgun in the parking lot that afternoon.

Bayne pleaded guilty a year ago to second-degree attempted murder for the shooting.

"Grant ... repeatedly stated that he had been approached in the rear of the school by Brandon who grabbed his shirt, shot him once in the groin from the front and as he began to flee his attacker he was shot again in the buttocks," according to court papers from the criminal proceeding.

Baltimore City Solicitor Thurman W. Zollicoffer Jr. said he was not aware of the complaint, but called the circumstances "sad and sadder."

"It's sad that it happened and sadder that we're here now," Zollicoffer said.

Anthony J. Trotta, general counsel for the school board, said he was not aware of the case and that standing policy is not to comment on pending litigation. He added that this case was the first of this nature to be filed against the school board, in his experience.

Grant's complaint, filed yesterday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, seeks $250,000 in compensatory damages and $750,000 in punitive damages.

Violent history

The September 2001 shooting was not Bayne's first brush with the law, court papers say.

Bayne's "school years were complicated by behavior problems and he had been suspended in the past for frequent episodes of fighting. He was apparently moved to different schools during his school years, in part, because of his behavior problem," according to the criminal proceeding.

A court medical officer reported that Bayne, of the 3800 block of Elmley Street, claimed to have had "three or four juvenile charges for riding a dirt bike, shooting dice and possession of controlled and dangerous substances with intent to distribute," adding that "he started selling cocaine at age 13."

The Baltimore City State's Attorney's office filed a seven-count criminal information against Bayne in January 2001 for the first- degree attempted murder and related charges of Steven Todd in the 3400 block of Gough Street in East Baltimore in November 2000, court records show.

Bayne pleaded guilty in July 2001 to the attempted robbery of Todd, at which time Baltimore City Circuit Judge David B. Mitchell sentenced him to five years, suspending four years and four months.

The incident at Lake Clifton High School occurred two months later.

A Baltimore City Circuit Court grand jury returned a nine-count indictment against Bayne on Oct. 15, 2001, charging him with first- and second-degree attempted murder and assault, and five handgun- related charges. In December 2001, the circuit court determined Bayne to be in violation of his parole.

Last March, Bayne pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years for second-degree attempted murder of Grant. Bayne also was received a pair of concurrent five-year sentences for use of a handgun in a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a handgun. As a result, the first five years of the 30-year sentence are without parole.

Baltimore City Circuit Judge Allen L. Schwait also concurrently included the unserved part of Bayne's four-year, four-month suspended sentence from Bayne's conviction in the Todd shooting, for violating his parole.

Bayne is currently serving time at Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown.