Judge, court officer kill ambusher
UNITED STATES: A judge was ambushed and shot yesterday morning as he walked toward the Jefferson County Courthouse, and both the judge and a probation officer returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect, officials said. A passenger in the suspect’s car has been questioned by police.
Steubenville City Manager James Mavromatis said that Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph J Bruzzese Jr was shot as he walked just outside the courthouse shortly after 8am.
The judge was armed and returned fire, firing at least five shots, according to Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla. A probation officer fired an unknown number of shots. The suspect, identified as Nathaniel Richmond, fired five shots.
The Steubenville police, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s department and the FBI are investigating. The FBI was helping with the investigation, said Jefferson County prosecuting attorney Jane Hanlin, ‘‘because we asked them to’’.
Richmond was hit three times by gunfire, the sheriff said. He is the father of Ma’lik Richmond, who was convicted in the 2012 rape of a 16-year-old girl. Ma’lik was a high school football player at the time. The case gained national attention because the victim was incapacitated and because pictures from the scene were circulated on social media.
Hanlin said authorities did not see a connection between the shooting and the rape case of Richmond’s son. ‘‘This judge had nothing to do at all with that case,’’ she said. Ma’lik Richmond ‘‘never appeared in this judge’s courtroom for any reason at all’’.
According to Abdalla, video footage showed a vehicle with two occupants at the scene at 7.12am. The vehicle left the scene and came back around 7.30am.
Bruzzese was on the sidewalk on Court St, getting ready to come up to the steps, the sheriff said. The person authorities have identified as Richmond approached him and shot him at near-point blank range in the chest and then took off running to the vehicle.
It is not yet clear who fired the shots that killed the suspect, but Bruzzese and a probation officer both fired their weapons.
The sheriff said there was ‘‘clear indication’’ that the shooter ‘‘laid in wait’’ for the judge to ambush him. ‘‘Thank God he’s not a good shot,’’ he said. The passenger in Richmond’s vehicle has not been identified.
Officials said Richmond had a criminal record and was a resident of Steubenville. Abdalla said had the probation officer not been there, ‘‘this gentleman would have kept on shooting until he killed the judge’’.
Hanlin agreed that the probation officer’s actions were crucial. ‘‘In all likelihood, he probably saved the judge’s life,’’ she said. The priority for officials was to make sure the probation officer and his family were safe.
Mavromatis said Bruzzese was talking after being wounded. He was flown to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, where he underwent surgery. The city manager said the judge was ‘‘doing fine’’.
Later in the afternoon Hanlin said that the judge was in stable condition. ‘‘We do expect him to survive’’ the attack, she said.
As of now, the second person in the car - who was a passenger - was not considered a suspect, Abdalla said. ‘‘He didn’t get out,’’ the sheriff said, and may have been wounded in the leg by a ricochet.
The passenger was at Trinity West Hospital and had been interviewed. He and Richmond apparently were drinking last night, the sheriff said.
‘‘It just hurts,’’ the sheriff said. ‘‘First thing on a Monday morning. ... You have a judge shot in front of his courthouse. And that upsets me ... This was an ambush and attempted murder on our judge.’’
Abdalla also said there had been threats of retaliation for the killing of the shooting suspect.
Bruzzese, 65, hears general and domestic relations cases as one of two judges serving in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. The sheriff said that the judge was an ’’avid sportsman. Hunter. Loves guns’’.
He said he asked the judge to start carrying a gun several years ago because there’s ‘‘nutcases out there who want retaliation’’. – TNS