Alleged Shooter on St. Lo Drive Takes 1-Year Plea

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A 36-year-old Baltimore man accused of a shooting nearly a year ago was sentenced to one year of incarceration on May 2 after accepting a plea before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Anthony F. Vittoria.

During Monday’s proceedings, Randall Mason stood beside his defense attorney, Robert Ness, as he accepted the prosecution’s plea of 15 years, suspending all but one year, and three years on probation for handgun possession.

The defendant is prohibited from possessing a handgun due to a second-degree assault conviction from 2011, the prosecutor said. Under the plea, the defendant must also register as a gun offender.

The assistant state’s attorney informed the court that around 2:25 a.m. on May 16, 2021, an officer with the Baltimore Police Department went to the 2800 block of St. Lo Drive near Lake Clifton High School in response to multiple ShotSpotter alerts. Officers found the defendant inside a 2005 Hyundai Sonata and asked him to get out of the vehicle.

As he got out of the vehicle, a cartridge casing fell to the ground.

The defendant allegedly attempted to run from the police but was later apprehended. The prosecutor said a handgun and 18 cartridge casings were found at the scene.

Ness described the incident as an “unsuccessful suicide attempt” as two months prior, the mother of the defendant’s three children died.

“I just want to put this behind me,” the defendant told the judge. “I made a mistake and I want to make something of myself.”

Mason previously rejected a plea of five years without parole for possession of a firearm with a felony conviction. He was also facing charges of illegal possession of a regulated firearm, having a handgun in a vehicle, illegal possession of ammo, and discharging firearms.