Cop Who Negligently Shot Trainee In Head Gets 60 Days In Prison -- 'He Just Got Off Scot-Free'

A city police instructor was sentenced Tuesday to two months in jail for shooting a trainee during exercises, an incident that left a man critically wounded and, in the words of a prosecutor, "brought dishonor onto the Baltimore Police Department."

William S. Kern was convicted of reckless endangerment in the Feb. 12 shooting at the Rosewood Center in Owings Mills, a shuttered state facility for people with developmental disabilities. The 19-year veteran testified that he accidentally grabbed a live weapon instead of a training gun.

Though it's rare for an officer to serve jail time for an on-duty incident, Baltimore County prosecutors said the case was unique because of the level of carelessness displayed by Kern. He shot University of Maryland police recruit Raymond Gray in the head, blinding him in one eye and hospitalizing him for months.

Gray's family members said they believe the sentence — 18 months with all but 60 days suspended — was too lenient. "We feel like he just got off scot-free," said a woman who said she was Gray's aunt but declined to give her name as she left the courtroom.