A Maryland judge was shot and killed in his driveway in a “targeted attack” by a suspect who had lost custody of his children hours earlier as part of a divorce proceeding before the Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said Friday, the Washington Post reports. .Deputies responded to a shooting around 8:00 p.m. near Hagerstown, 75 miles north of Baltimore. They found Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, in a residential driveway with a gunshot wound. Wilkinson was taken a hospital, where he died. The Sheriff’s Office said it was searching for 49-year-old Pedro Argote in connection with the shooting, reports the Associated Press.
Argote was not at the hearing Thursday that was part of his divorce proceeding from his wife. He is considered armed and dangerous, Albert said. Maryland State Police troopers were dispatched to protect other judges on Thursday night. Wilkinson served as an associate judge for the 4th Judicial Circuit Court since January 2020. He received his law degree in 1997 from Emory University School of Law and had experience in all levels of Maryland courts from district to the Court of Appeals. His legal experience included real estate, zoning and family law as well as civil litigation.