Maryland’s highest court has shut down a Towson University student’s lawsuit over a 2021 campus shooting, keeping earlier dismissals in place and sidestepping a chance to reshape when colleges can be held liable for third-party violence.
The Maryland Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked former student Catherine Torney from moving forward with her negligence case against Towson after concluding it should not have taken the appeal at all, as reported by CBS Baltimore. A brief per curiam order, which The Daily Record says labeled the earlier grant of review improvidently made, also directed Towson to pay the costs of the appeal.
Background: What Happened In Freedom Square
On the night of Sept. 3–4, 2021, an unsanctioned “pop-up” party in Towson’s Freedom Square swelled to hundreds of people before a gunman opened fire, wounding three people, including then-student Torney, according to the Appellate Court's unreported opinion. Local reporting described the scene as thick with cannabis smoke and underage drinkers, with a DJ who eventually cut the music when the crowd got out of hand.
Torney sued Towson in 2023, arguing the university had negligently trained and supervised its campus police. A circuit judge tossed the case, and the Appellate Court backed that call, concluding that “a noisy, large gathering of young people, even one that includes arguments among the attendees, is insufficient to signal that violence might be imminent,” per The Baltimore Banner.
Court’s Sudden Reversal
Less than two weeks after hearing oral arguments, the Maryland Supreme Court took the unusual step of vacating its own decision to hear the case and declined to weigh in on the broader questions about campus responsibility for third-party crime, The Daily Record reports. By undoing the grant of review, the justices left the circuit court and Appellate Court rulings, which dismissed Torney’s claims, fully intact.
What Each Side Argued
Torney’s legal team told the high court the university knew pop-up parties were a recurring issue in Freedom Square and should have stepped in once this one grew unruly, according to coverage of the oral argument. Attorneys for Towson responded that there was no sign anyone at the party was armed and cast the lawsuit as classic Monday-morning quarterbacking, language reported by WBAL.
Before Tuesday’s reversal, Torney’s lawyers had called the Supreme Court’s earlier decision to take the case an important development and said they were anticipating a favorable ruling.
Legal Implications
With the Supreme Court stepping aside, the Appellate Court’s unreported opinion remains the last word in this case on Maryland landowner duty. The existing framework, which limits liability for third-party criminal acts unless there is particular notice or a special relationship, is unchanged here.
Between the Appellate Court’s analysis and the high court’s per curiam order, similar plaintiffs will continue to face steep hurdles in trying to show that a university had specific notice that makes violence reasonably foreseeable. In real-world terms, the decision keeps the bar high for holding colleges responsible for violent acts committed by non-students.
Campus Reaction And Next Steps
After the shooting, campus officials suspended a veteran officer while the incident was investigated, and the university’s police union argued that officers were being unfairly blamed, according to prior reporting. Towson leaders declined to provide an update when contacted by local outlets, and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, which represented Towson, also did not immediately comment, per The Baltimore Banner.
The immediate result is straightforward: Torney will not get a jury trial on her negligence claims in this case, and any shift in how far Maryland courts are willing to stretch foreseeability in campus-violence suits will have to wait for another set of facts.
