US judge shot at court

A family court judge was shot and wounded as he stood near a third-floor courthouse window in Reno, Nevada.

Police were looking for man suspected of involvement in a killing across town who had appeared before the judge in a divorce case.

Judge Chuck Weller, 53, was hit in the chest yesterday by at least one shot that came through his office window at the Mills Lane Justice Centre, authorities said. He was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he was reported to be in a serious condition, though conscious.

“He is conscious and talking with his family,” police said.

Investigators said Darren Roy Mack was a “person of interest” in connection with a killing reported later yesterday at a Reno apartment building.

The apartment building was home to Mack’s estranged wife, Charla Mack, 39.

According to Washoe County District Court records, Charla Mack filed for divorce on February 7, 2005. A two-day custody hearing was scheduled before Judge Weller for September 7 this year and a mutual restraining order was signed in May 2005, according to court records.

Mack “had recent dealings with the judge and the family court section” in his divorce, police said.

But, they said, police “do not have enough information to say he is a suspect” in Judge Weller’s shooting.

Police also reported that a bomb-sniffing dog had alerted officers to the judge’s car in the court’s parking garage. A bomb squad was investigating.

After the shooting, police closed off six blocks around the court on the edge of Reno’s casino district, which otherwise remained open.

Family court proceedings scheduled for today were cancelled.