Lawyer: School shooter was bullied

PERRY HALL, Md. -- At 6:27 a.m. on his first day as a sophomore at Perry Hall High School, Robert Wayne Gladden Jr. updated his Facebook status.

"First day of school, last day of my life," he wrote. He then typed a symbol resembling a person with two middle fingers extended before adding " ------- the world."

Gladden, a pale youth with long, dark hair who turned 15 just three weeks ago, has been charged as an adult in the shooting of a 17-year-old classmate, who was hit in the back with a shotgun blast in the school cafeteria Monday. Daniel Boro-wy remained in critical condition yesterday.

While authorities did not discuss a motive for the shooting, Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson said Gladden planned the attack and fired a shot at random before school staff rushed him. A second shot hit the ceiling during the struggle, police said.

Gladden's attorney, George Psoras, challenged that version of events, saying the teenager brought the shotgun to school to intimidate bullies and did not aim it at classmates or intend to harm anyone. He said he believes the youth fired into the floor and the gun discharged again, accidentally, as teachers tried to wrestle it away.

"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." -- AP