INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.– A man was sentenced Friday in connection with a shooting in the parking lot of a local high school.
The shooting occurred on Jan. 22, 2016 in the parking lot outside of Lawrence Central High School as a basketball game let out. Paul Rayner fired several shots and hit one 15-year-old student. The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening.
While talking to police after his arrest, Rayner admitted he had a gun for protection and told them he “fired it in the air” to frighten a large group that followed him outside. He told police he threw the gun in a lake after the shooting.
Rayner was 17 when he was arrested for the shooting and charged as an adult.
On Friday, Rayner was sentenced to 14 years with eight years to be spent in the Indiana Department of Correction. He pleaded guilty in July to aggravated battery, intimidation and carrying a handgun without a license. The other six years of his sentence were suspended.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s office says the intimidation charge was added after Rayner threatened a witness in the case on social media.
