Judge shot in gunbattle at courthouse
A man who shot and wounded a judge outside the Jefferson County Courthouse on Monday morning before being gunned down by a probation officer was the father of a high school football player who was convicted in that county of rape in 2013, authorities said.
Jefferson County Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. was
shot near the courthouse in Steubenville, but the avid hunter was able to get off five shots at the suspect in what became a gunbattle.
But shots from the probation officer, who was not identified, are believed to be the ones that killed the suspect.
Authorities identified the gunman as Nathaniel “Nate” Richmond of Steubenville, the father of Ma’Lik Richmond. Ma’Lik, then 17, served about 10 months in a juvenile lockup after being convicted with another Steubenville High School football player of raping a 16-year-old girl during an alcohol-fueled party in 2012.
Richmond reportedly got off five shots and was hit three times.
The Steubenville HeraldStar, quoting City Manager Jim Mavromatis, reported that Bruzzese had surgery for his injuries but was “doing fine” at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Steubenville is about 30 miles west of Pittsburgh.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Bruzzese would survive.
Courthouse video shows the judge and Richmond firing at each other, Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said.
It was uncertain what sparked the shooting, but records show Bruzzese was overseeing a wrongful-death lawsuit that Nate Richmond filed in April against the Jefferson County Metropolitan Housing Authority. A hearing on a motion by the housing authority to dismiss punitive-damages claims was set for Aug. 28. Messages requesting more details were left for Richmond’s attorneys.
One of Bruzzese’s judicial colleagues said the attack had to be intentional because people know about the reserved spots where judges park.
Judge Joseph Corabi said he and the county’s two other judges park in reserved spots next to the courthouse. Judges then walk a few feet down what’s known as Courthouse Alley to a side entrance to the building, said Corabi, the Jefferson County juvenile and probate court judge.
“Everybody knows who parks there. That’s why it’s not an accident what happened. He was clearly an intended target,” Corabi said.
According to Abdalla, video footage shows a vehicle with two occupants at the scene at 7:12 a.m. The vehicle left the scene and came back around 7:30 a.m.
Bruzzese was on the sidewalk on Court Street, 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.
Abdalla said had the probation officer not been there, “this gentleman would have kept on shooting until he killed the judge.”
Abdalla said there was “clear indication” that the shooter “laid in wait” for the judge to ambush him.
The 2012 rape case brought international attention to the eastern Ohio city of 18,000 residents and led to allegations of a coverup to protect the football team, but a visiting judge from Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located, handled the majority of the rape case.
Jefferson County prosecuting attorney Jane Hanlin said authorities do not see a connection between the shooting and the rape case. “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.”
Hanlin said Richmond is known to authorities, however: “There have been a number of cases involving Richmond throughout the past number of years, in this judge’s courtroom and in other judges courtroom. Whether or not there’s a connection between any of those prior appearances in that courtroom and today’s action, we don’t know the answer to that yet.”
As of now, the second person in the car — who was a passenger — is not considered a suspect, Abdalla said.
“He didn’t get out,” the sheriff said, and may have been wounded in the leg. The passenger, who was not identified, was at Trinity West Hospital in Steubenville and had been interviewed.
Ma’Lik Richmond, now 21, currently is on the Youngstown State football team but isn’t allowed to play in games, the school said this month. His inclusion on the team has caused public outcry.
The elder Richmond had a few traffic violations in the past couple of years, and several years he was arrested on various domestic violence and assault charges, court records show.
Bruzzese hears general and domestic relations cases as one of two judges serving in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. He has served on that court since 1997, and he was re-elected in 2014 for another six-year term.
Corabi called Bruzzese fair, hardworking, well-liked and “a tough son of a gun.”
“He is very intelligent, and he can cut to the chase,” Corabi said.
The Steubenville police, the Jefferson County sheriff’s office and the FBI are investigating.