The party at Towson University, cloaked in cannabis smoke and packed with underage drinkers, grew to about 400 people the night Catherine Torney was shot.

At one point, the DJ stopped playing music and yelled at the crowd because the partiers were so unruly. But they did not heed that warning and continued to file into Freedom Square, located in the heart of campus and meant to be a “haven for freedom of expression and speech.”

Meanwhile, Towson University police officers looked on but decided against shutting down the unsanctioned party, which started the night of Sept. 3, 2021. That’s when a gunman opened fire, wounding Torney and two others.

This week, more than four years later, the Maryland Supreme Court agreed to take up her case and decide whether Torney can continue to try to sue the public university for negligence. She alleges that the risk of gun violence was foreseeable.

“If the issue is not resolved in this present case, it will arise in Maryland again, and again, and again,” her attorneys Joseph Cammarata and Stephen Ollar wrote in court documents.

In an interview with The Banner, Cammarata described the court’s decision to hear the appeal as an “important development,” adding that he looks forward to “a successful outcome.”

Citing the case’s status as pending litigation, Towson University declined to comment on it.

Towson University has one of the largest enrollments in the University System of Maryland, educating just under 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Its Police Department is composed of more than 40 sworn officers.

Torney sued the university in 2023 in Baltimore County Circuit Court, and a judge later threw out her lawsuit. The Appellate Court of Maryland then upheld that decision.

Assistant Attorney General Jennifer DeRose, Towson University’s attorney, argued that it was not appropriate for the state’s highest court to take up the appeal.

“Ms. Torney was shot by an unknown assailant at a boisterous, unsanctioned social gathering on Towson University’s campus,” DeRose wrote in court documents.

“She seeks to hold the University liable for her injuries, by claiming that they were foreseeable, despite there being no violent conduct at the event prior to the sudden gunfire, the University having no notice of an armed individual at the gathering, and despite a similar event occurring in the same location without incident a few days prior.”

Kelsey Hartman, a spokesperson for the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, declined to comment.

The justices are expected to hear oral argument in April.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.