COLUMBIA – A Richland County school with “a documented history of crime, violence, assaults and weapons offenses” is the subject of a lawsuit that says a student was shot in the school’s parking lot.
The litigation stems from a shooting incident on or about April 30 in the Ridge View High School parking lot. One student was shot in the abdomen and treated for his injuries.
Richland County School District Two, the shooting suspect, and the suspect’s parent are named as defendants.
A Richland Two spokesperson declined to comment, citing district policy.
The victim’s father, identified in court papers as “John Doe,” asserted in the lawsuit filed May 12 that school district negligence resulted in his son being shot.
The lawsuit said the suspect brought a gun onto school grounds and negligently fired the weapon. Additionally, the suit says the suspect’s parent, identified as “Parent Doe,” is “(jointly) and severally liable” for the victim’s injuries.
The victim’s father is asking for actual and compensatory damages, legal costs, and other relief deemed just and proper by the court.
According to the suit, the victim was standing near a vehicle with three occupants, all of whom were armed, the suit states.
At some point, the suspect fired at least one round from a .22 caliber weapon. The bullet passed through a car window, striking the victim in the stomach.
There was no apparent altercation prior to the shooting, according to records.. A fellow student drove the victim to the hospital because there were no school “staff or personnel present at the time of the shooting or otherwise available to aid Plaintiff,” according to the suit.
In the lawsuit, the victim’s father asserts RVHS should’ve more closely monitored the parking lot area, citing it’s a commonly known location for truant students to assemble.
Teachers aren’t stationed there to monitor student activity, according to the suit.
“RVHS knows and has known for years that students and non-students congregate, cut class and loiter in the parking lots during normal school hours,” the suit states. “Despite having this knowledge, RVHS continues to make a conscious choice to refuse to have any staff or other security personnel present when students congregate in the parking lot under these circumstances.”
The suit goes on to say the school “fails to utilize” its video surveillance system to monitor student activity in the parking lot.
“RVHS’s chronic indifference to the parking lots being the gathering place for students to congregate and loiter when cutting class creates an increased risk in crime, violence and other illegal activity detrimental to the safety and well-being of the students,” the suit states.
A medical examiner stated the victim had metal fragments in his abdomen from the shooting, noting it was too dangerous to remove them.
The school, however, offered a different explanation about the nature of the shooting, according to the suit.
“RVHS and its staff quickly engaged in a spin campaign to downplay the severity of the shooting by [publicly] stating that plaintiff was shot by an airsoft pistol,” the suit states. “At no time did Plaintiff or anyone on behalf of Plaintiff state to any RVHS staff that Plaintiff was shot by an airsoft pistol.”
No trial date has been set. The deadline for court ordered mediation is December 8.
