Judge shot, wounded near Ohio courthouse; gunman killed

Officials consult near the crime scene at the Huntington Bank,  next to the Courthouse  in Steubenville, Ohio, Monday Aug. 21, 2017, after Jefferson County Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. was ambushed and shot while walking to work early Monday morning. (Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
Officials consult near the crime scene at the Huntington Bank, next to the Courthouse in Steubenville, Ohio, Monday Aug. 21, 2017, after Jefferson County Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. was ambushed and shot while walking to work early Monday morning. (Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) - A judge walking from his car into the county courthouse was shot by a gunman Monday morning but managed to fire back before a probation officer stepped in and ultimately killed the suspect, authorities said.

Jefferson County Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. was shot at around 8 a.m. near the courthouse in Steubenville, just across the Ohio River from West Virginia's northern panhandle, roughly 30 miles west of Pittsburgh.

Courthouse video shows both the judge and the gunman firing about five times each, Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said.

"Whoever thought this could happen here?" Abdalla said, adding investigators are familiar with the suspect and are checking to see if he had any connection with the judge.

Steubenville City Manager James Mavromatis said Bruzzese was talking after being wounded. He was flown to a Pittsburgh-area hospital.

Investigators didn't immediately release further information about the judge's condition or on the suspect. Republican Gov. John Kasich said he was told the judge would survive.

The attack had to be intentional because people know about the reserved spots where judges park, one of Bruzzese's judicial colleagues said.

Judge Joseph Corabi said he and the county's two other judges park in reserved spots next to the courthouse in eastern Ohio. Judges then walk a few feet down what's known as "Courthouse Alley" to a side entrance to the building, said Corabi, the Jefferson County juvenile and probate court judge.

"Everybody knows who parks there. That's why it's not an accident what happened. He was clearly an intended target," Corabi said.

Corabi said Bruzzese is known as an avid hunter. He called him fair, hard-working, well-liked and "a tough son of a gun."

"He is very intelligent and he can cut to the chase," Corabi said. "He spots issues and he resolves the issues."

Bruzzese, 65, hears general and domestic relations cases as one of two judges serving in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court.

He had likely arrived early to review his usual Monday morning batch of legal motions, Corabi said.