By Rich McKay
(Reuters) - A Maryland judge was fatally shot in the driveway of his home, police said on Friday, triggering a manhunt for a suspect that authorities said was involved a divorce case that was heard in the judge's court earlier in the day.
Maryland Circuit Court Associate Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, was found outside his home in Hagerstown around 8 p.m. on Thursday with multiple gunshot wounds, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
"This was a targeted attack on Judge Wilkinson," said Sheriff Brian Albert at a press conference in Hagerstown, a small city near the Pennsylvania state line at the far western end of Maryland.
The suspect, 49-year-old Pedro Argote, was scheduled to attend a divorce hearing before the judge on Thursday but failed to show up, the sheriff said.
As the search began for Argote, Maryland State troopers were deployed to protect the homes of Washington County judges overnight, but no further threat was now anticipated, the sheriff said.
In the past, police were called to Argote's home in Washington County a few times for "domestic calls" but he has no known police record.
The sheriff said that Argote legally owns a gun and that the public should consider him armed and dangerous.
"This violence is horrifying to see in our community," said
U.S. Representative David Trone, a Democrat whose district includes Hagerstown, said on the X social media site.