Brother: Fairgreen Road Victim Shot In the Face Told He'll Recover ‘100 Percent’

“The doctors said it was a miracle he survived,” Chris Sheppard recounted.

Sheppard’s brother, Brian Sheppard, 45, was shot twice at close range, in the face and shoulder April 15, leading to a barricade situation on Fairgreen Road. Amazingly, Brian Sheppard was released from the hospital Friday with a bullet still lodged in the rear left side of his brain.

“The doctors said the bullet was hot and they think it cauterized the blood vessels” in the area immediately around the injury, Chris Sheppard told Patch as he worked on a race car in his brother’s garage Monday evening. “There was only slight swelling. The doctors said it would cause more problems to take it out."

Chris Sheppard, who races at various tracks around the state, said his brother typically serves in his pit crew and cooks on the grill at the outings. Amazingly, just 11 days after the shooting, he’s looking forward to the start of the new season with his brother.

Released from Bayview Hospital Friday, Brian Sheppard was readmitted to the hospital Sunday with low sodium levels, his brother said, but it’s not a critical issue.

“He has low sodium and they want him to eat four small bags of potato chips a day and start on an I.V.,” Chris Sheppard said. “They thought it was just related to being in the hospital.”

Sheppard added that other than the sodium issue, his brother has full use of his motor skills. His cognitive and speaking skills are fine, too. He got his cell phone back while recovering at his father’s home last week.

“The doctor’s said he’s going to be 100 percent,” Chris Sheppard said. He added, however, that he is not sure when or if his brother, a mechanic for a Baltimore County lawn maintenance company, might return to work. Brian Sheppard has a commericial driver's license, which was pulled after his brain injury as standard practice.

"He'll have to take the test again," Chris Sheppard said.

The family is contending with his recovery at the moment, Sheppard added. Medical bills, insurance issues  and work will be later priorities.

The other bullet that hit Sheppard entered his left shoulder. A third bullet missed.

Randy Scott DiGennaro, 55, of the 7800 block of Fairgreen Road, was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, second-degree assault, and use of a handgun during a felony violent crime.

According to police, 140 weapons were recovered inside the DiGennaro home, as well as 60 pounds of explosives. During the barricade, Baltimore County police were aware of the arsenal inside the DiGennaro home from intelligence gathered from neighbors, said Baltimore County police spokesman Lt. Rob McCollough.

The Sheppard brothers have both known DiGennaro, a steelworker at Sparrows Point, for more than a decade. Chris Sheppard said, and other neighbors confirmed, that DiGennaro’s weapons collection was well known in the community.

Chris Sheppard said his brother told him that DiGennaro, who police alleged was drinking and possibly using drugs leading up to the shooting, shot him because he’d parked too close to his new Chevy truck. The Chevy truck was recently purchased because DiGennaro was expecting to return to work soon at the recently restarted mill at Sparrows Point.

While some neighbors told The Baltimore Sun that DiGennaro, who did not have a previous criminal record, was a good neighbor, others said he’d become difficult in recent years.

“He used to be more friendly, but in the last two years he got more introverted,” said next-door neighbor Michelle Smyth. “I thought it was me.”

Brian Sheppard was shot while still sitting in his pick up truck on Fairgreen Road as he planned to visit David Bland, a handicapped friend who lives next door to DiGennaro. Bland did not have a good relationship with DiGennaro, who accused Bland of throwing fireworks at him.

Chris Sheppard said his brother told him he’d “played dead,” lying on his truck's bench seat after being shot until DiGennaro walked away and got into his own truck. DiGennaro apparently drove away briefly before returning to his house, Brian Sheppard told his brother.

Chris Sheppard said his brother waited until DiGennaro had pulled away and then stumbled into Bland’s home to call police.

“I heard, ‘Pop, pop, pop,’ Bland said. “I thought it was fireworks. Brian came in with his face filled with blood. He told me to call the police and I dialed 911. I gave the phone to him and he said, ‘I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot.’ And then, I gave the address.”