Richland 2’s Ridge View High School faces another lawsuit after shooting
A Ridge View High School student is suing after he was shot on campus with what he says was a .22-caliber pistol despite initial reports an airsoft gun was used.
In a lawsuit filed May 12, a Ridge View senior along with his attorney, John Mobley, alleged that the school was negligent when it allowed a throng of students on campus to gather in an unsupervised parking lot, leading to the student being shot by another student wielding a handgun. The shooter and his parents are also named in the suit for negligence.
A preliminary investigation by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department determined the student had been shot by an airsoft or BB gun, which was followed by a statement from the school’s principal, Brenda Mack, saying the same.
The student and Mobley, however, maintain the student’s injury stemmed from a .22-caliber handgun, and argues that the school likely downplayed the incident to avoid highlighting chronic instances of violence on its campus.
“My client never told anybody that it was an airsoft gun,” Mobley said. “I don’t know how (the school) came to spin it that way, but they kind of got in their head that it wasn’t a real gun, and the family was shocked by that.”
A Richland 2 spokesperson declined to comment on the discrepancy involving the weapon used and referred questions to the sheriff’s department.
The sheriff’s department told The State Thursday that it had not uncovered any additional evidence since its preliminary investigation, which indicated the student was shot with an airsoft gun.
The shooting occurred on April 30 when the victim, Mobley said, was in a parking lot filled with students on Ridge View’s campus. While standing next to a car occupied by the shooter, the victim was shot with the handgun, according to Mobley and the lawsuit.
The shooter, named Jim Doe in the suit, fired the weapon through the vehicle’s window, striking the victim in the abdomen, the suit said. There was no altercation or other conflict between the victim and the shooter that caused the attack, the complaint added.
No one was arrested following the shooting.
Because the parking lot was unsupervised when the shooting occurred, the victim was transported to a hospital by another student who was nearby, according to the lawsuit.
A medical examination at the hospital found metal fragments in the student’s abdomen that were not removed, as doctors advised that doing so could cause further harm, the suit said.
Since the shooting, the student “is better” as he recovers, Mobley said.
Mobley and the suit criticized the school’s lack of adult supervision and monitoring in areas where students frequently cut class, resulting in a “culture of indifference” and increased risk of violence, following a history of alleged incidents at the school, including stabbings, sexual assault and voyeurism.
In 2023, a student was stabbed multiple times by another student during a fight, according to a report from The State.
The parents of the stabbing victim sued the school and was represented by Mobley. The case was dismissed in July 2024.
During the 2023 fight, no school employees were present, according to the lawsuit. The student suffered five severe stab wounds — two to the arm, two to the stomach and one to the back — before he had to “wander bleeding through the hallway in order to get medical attention,” Mobley said during a 2023 news conference.
Also in 2023, Richland 2 paid $285,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging a 2020 sexual assault of a Ridge View basketball player by his teammates before a game.
The lawsuit alleged that the student was “violently” sexually assaulted by his teammates while in a Ridge View locker room in January 2020. Four athletes were arrested, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Three were charged with assault and battery by mob and another was charged with criminal sexual conduct.
Again, in 2024, a lawsuit was filed against Ridge View that claimed a student filmed another student using the restroom while disrobed.
The suit stemmed from an incident on Dec. 15, 2021, where a football teammate climbed over a restroom stall and videoed another student as he was “exposed” from the waist down, the lawsuit alleged. The violated student “looked up in shock and disbelief.” The bathroom was not properly monitored by district staff, the lawsuit said.
The teammate shared the video with fellow Ridge View students and athletes via social media and text messages, according to the lawsuit. The video was “widespread” among students and athletes at various Richland 2 schools.
Following April’s shooting, Mobley classified the school as a “war zone.”
“This cultural indifference creates a vicious cycle because students prone to committing violence on campus know the school won’t do anything about it.”
“If you just see the amount of violence and assaults that occur on campus (at Ridge View High School), and how law enforcement is involved on a regular basis, it shocks the conscience that this is a place where children go to receive an education,” Mobley said.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 4:24 PM.
