Judge Shot at Courthouse in Reno
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
RENO, Nev. (AP) – A family court judge was shot as he stood near a third-floor courthouse window Monday, and police sealed off the area and searched nearby parking garages for a sniper.
Judge Chuck Weller was hit in the chest about 11:15 a.m. at the Mills B. Lane Justice Center, part of the Washoe County courthouse complex, police said.
He was rushed by ambulance to Washoe Medical Center, police spokesman Steve Frady said.
“He is conscious and talking with his family,” Frady told The Associated Press.
Police did not know if the shots were fired inside the courthouse or from outside, Frady said.
Police closed off six blocks around the courthouse, on the edge of Reno’s downtown casino district. A SWAT team was on the scene, and officers conducted a floor-by-floor search of the courthouse and the neighboring parking garages.
Weller, 53, a Reno lawyer, was elected to the bench in 2004, defeating former Reno Mayor Pete Sferrazza.
Weller hosted a legal advice program on a Reno radio station from 1989 to 2002 and wrote a legal advice column in the Sunday Reno Gazette-Journal from 2000 to 2004. He once led opposition to a county bond issue to build a new county courthouse.
