Attacker Dead After Judge Pulls Out Concealed Weapon And Opens Fire

23 Aug, 2017 by Margaret M.

Print this article Font size -16+

At around 8 a.m. on Monday, an Ohio judge outside of his courthouse was forced to pull out his concealed weapon after being shot several times in the stomach.

Judge Joseph J. Bruzzese Jr. is currently in stable condition and was air lifted to a local hospital after the attack. Witnesses on the scene reported that the 65 year-old judge was still able to speak after being shot in both the stomach and chest.

Judge Bruzzese was heading into the Steubenville, Ohio courthouse, where he had worked for twenty years, when he was approached by the suspect (identified below).

After the judge was “ambushed”:

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said the suspect in Monday’s shooting waited in a car outside the courthouse for almost an hour before Mr Bruzzese arrived. When he arrived, the suspect got out of the car and began shooting, walking toward Mr Bruzzese until he was nearly in point-blank range.

Sheriff Abdalla goes on to say that Judge Bruzzese pulled out his concealed handgun and returned fire after being shot and an on-site probation officer who was a witness to the incident also began to shoot at the suspect.

The suspect, who is not being named, was shot several times and killed. A second man who was in a car with him was taken into custody. He is not being treated as a suspect at this time.

These are the photos gathered by a local reporter just after the incident:

As for the suspect:

Steubenville City Manager Jim Mavromatis identified the suspect as Nate Richmond. Richmond’s son, Ma’lik Richmond, was convicted in a 2013 Steubenville rape case that garnered national attention.

Mavromatis said Bruzzese did not preside over the rape case. Authorities have not commented on a possible motive.

Richmond’s son, then a high school football player, was sentenced in 2013 to a minimum of one year in a juvenile correction facility.

Nate Richmond is a plaintiff along with several others in a wrongful death case overseen by Bruzzese, according to public court records.

Nate Richmond was hit three times and at this time it has not been determined as to whether the judge or the probation officer had hit the suspect.

Sheriff Abdala had previously urged the Judge to carry a concealed weapon, because “there are so many nutcases out there that want retaliation.”