BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - The City of Boston is facing a lawsuit that says a student was shot in the stomach in a parking lot as he was being picked up to attend a funeral.
Marque'e Dorsey and others sued Boston Public Schools on Sept. 7 in Suffolk County Superior Court. Also named as defendants are BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper and Jeremiah Burke High School Principal Amilcar Silva.
The incident occurred Oct. 4, 2022, when Dorsey's mother, Melanie Bland, was driving to JBHS to pick up Dorsey, who was leaving school early for a funeral. Dorsey had called his mother because another student was threatening him.
"Mr. Dorsey was so frightened that he asked his mother to stay on Facetime with him," the suit says.
The other student "opened fire on the entire family," including Dorsey's 16-year-old brother, the suit says. The other student exited the school with a firearm and shot Dorsey twice in the stomach, the suit says.
Dorsey was hospitalized for 16 days and went through three surgical procedures, plus has suffered emotional injuries, the suit says. It blames the defendants for allowing the shooting to happen.
Metal detectors at the school are not properly used after 8:30 a.m., which allowed the shooter to bring with him a gun, the suit claims. The defendants also failed to discover the gun during the day, it adds.
Dorsey and his mother, his brother and his sister (who were all in the car, which was shot at least once after they jumped out, the suit says) are represented by Fogelman Law in Newton.