The attorney representing —the 15-year-old accused of Monday morning—is challenging investigators' narrative of the attack.
George Psoras Jr., whose legal practice is based in , claims that Gladden, a sophomore, was bullied and never intended to harm anyone when he brought a gun into the school's cafeteria, The Associated Press reports.
Psoras said he believes Gladden shot into the floor, and then shot the gun again accidentally when teachers tried to wrestle it away, according to the report.
"The stereotype right now is that we have a Columbine," Psoras told The Associated Press. "It's simply not the case. This is a typical teenager who was just starting this school year. He was being bullied, and the bullying has to stop."
Psoras declined to comment on the case when contacted by Patch on Wednesday.
During a , Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson emphasized that Gladden had cooperated with police after his arrest Monday morning, and investigators did not believe bullying was a factor in the shooting.
The Associated Press also detailed Gladden's Facebook page with a status, written before the attack, that included, "First day of school, last day of my life." It also made reference to mass murderer Charles Manson and included the nickname "SuicidalSmile."
Jasmine Turno, a Perry Hall High freshman, said that two days after the attack, the school retained an eerie feeling. Turno said that if students had been more aware of each other, the shooting may never have happened.
"We know we could have stopped it, and we didn't," she said. "Obviously from his Facebook status, he was upset and suicidal ... we should have watched out for him because he was quiet. Everyone knows you have to watch out for the quiet ones. It's just crazy."
Austin Kahmer, a sophomore and acquaintance of Gladden, said he wouldn't have suspected that he would bring a gun to school.
"I didn't know him super well, but I've talked to him. He was never crazy like that before. He used to be all right, and then I don't know what happened," Kahmer said.
Noah Gaylor, also a sophomore, said he remembered Gladden from when they both attended , but that he was quiet in high school.
"I didn't really talk to him," Gaylor said.
If you want proof, look at how many people went to parochial schools and attend church regularly and still do things against their respective churches' teachings (a majority of Catholic women use birth control, for example; and during the week of the Born Again Christian music festival "Creation," local drugstores have record sales of condoms to young people). It's not the church or school that determines a person's morals; it's the behavior modeled by their parents when they're young combined with the choices they make as they grow up. You can't force morals onto someone. Christian schools and churches are like food-- food itself doesn't make you fat or thin or healthy or unhealthy; how you use food results in those things, just as how you respond to your environment shapes who you are (especially considering the fact that churches are run by imperfect people who don't always model moral behavior, either). Something went terribly wrong for this young man long ago for him to get to this point, and it's tragic for him and unfortunately moreso for Daniel Borowy. And though whatever happened to Robert was not his fault, his own actions now are 100% his own responsibility to account for. There is no quick fix to preventing this situation in the future. It's going to take a lot of work as a country and in our communities.
Let's all pray Daniel has a full recovery and the family has a lot of support.
And if Gladden's "bullying" was a result of kids telling him he looked like a freak? Easy solution. If you dress Goth... you are looking for attention and chances are its not going to be "wow you are so cool and awesome". Also teens (and adults) always hang in groups of people with similar interests and styles. If you are Goth and the school has next to no Goths... well. When I was a teen (14-15) I was a skin head (NO not the racist kind) the working class, single parent family, home alone kind. When the idiot, racist skins took over the image I got a lot of slack from people making false assumptions about me in school. SO, I simply dropped the image (but kept my beliefs in the hard working class morals, being a realist, and saying it like it is). Then suddenly lots of kids in school didn't fear or say negative stuff to me. Solved and don't give me the identity acceptance BS. If you continue to want negative attention in school... you have serious mental issues.
hopefully we are learning..
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