A US judge is reportedly fighting for his life after he was violently attacked and shot by his son, who previously avoided a prison sentence in the same county after shooting a family friend in the head.
Judge Johnny Hardwick, presiding judge of Alabama's 15th Judicial District, is reported to be in critical condition after he was involved in a domestic dispute with his son Khalfani A. Hardwick on Saturday that reportedly ended with at least one gunshot, NBC reported News Sunday.
Early in the afternoon, around 1 p.m., deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office reportedly discovered the judge “assaulted, shot and seriously injured” in his home after he was called to the scene regarding an argument.
His 36-year-old son, who is believed to be responsible for the serious injuries the judge suffered, is said to have driven away in a car before police arrived on the scene, according to American media.
However, officers detained him shortly afterwards near the spot where he had left his vehicle while fleeing, near Highway 231.
He was reportedly charged with first-degree domestic violence and prohibited possession of a handgun.
But this would not be the thirty-year-old's first run-in with the law: ten years earlier, in 2014, he had managed to avoid prison time by pleading guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree assault resulting in death According to NBC News, he shot a family friend, Clayton Riley, directly in the head.
At that point, the judge had already served in the district since 2001, the New York Post noted.
The judge, who is still being treated for “serious” injuries, would have undergone at least one operation, Montgomery's deputy police chief Wesley Richerson told American media.