A US judge in Ohio has fatally shot a gunman who critically wounded him in an ambush-style attack outside court.<\/p>\n
Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr was shot several times just after 08:00 local time (12:00 GMT) in Steubenville on Monday morning.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Fred Abdalla told reporters the attacker and the judge exchanged about five shots each.<\/p>\n
A court officer also fired several shots at the suspect.<\/p>\n
The Jefferson County prosecutor identified the attacker as Nathaniel Richmond, but said they had not yet identified a motive.<\/p>\n
Mr Richmond is the father of Ma’Lik Richmond, a high school football player whose rape conviction made national headlines in the 2012.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Jane Hanlin said there is no connection between Judge Bruzzese and that rape case.<\/p>\n
Judge Bruzzese, who has been on the bench at the Jefferson County courthouse since 1998, was airlifted to hospital in Pittsburgh to undergo emergency surgery.<\/p>\n
The Steubenville city manager says that the judge is out of surgery and “doing fine”.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Abdalla said he had advised the 65-year-old judge several years ago to carry a firearm during his commute.<\/p>\n
“This individual laid in wait, for our judge,” the sheriff told reporters hours after the shootout.<\/p>\n
“It just hurts. First thing on a Monday morning.<\/p>\n
“You have a judge shot in front of his courthouse, and that affected me. This was ambush and attempted murder on our judge.”<\/p>\n
Police have also detained the driver who brought the attacker to the courthouse, but say they believe he did not know what his passenger was plotting.<\/p>\n
The sheriff added that both men had served time in prison.<\/p>\n
“He’s shooting and shooting,” Sherriff Abdalla said at a news conference. “He’s right up to the judge.<\/p>\n
“And that’s when he fires another round and he shoved the judge over and then he takes off running towards his vehicle.”<\/p>\n
The courthouse has been closed for the rest of the day and for Tuesday as detectives process the crime scene.<\/p>\n
The state governor has been updated on the situation and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"