MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A judge in Alabama is in critical condition after he was shot by his adult son over the weekend in what was described as a heated domestic dispute, officials said.
Khalfani A. Hardwick, 36, was identified as the suspect in the shooting. He was arrested Saturday and charged with one count of first-degree domestic violence assault and one count of being a forbidden person in possession of a firearm in the attack on his father, Judge Johnny Hardwick, authorities announced, according to Law&Crime.
The victim was gunned down about 1 p.m. on Saturday inside his home in Montgomery, law enforcement authorities said. He is the presiding judge of Montgomery County’s Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.
It’s unclear what led to the domestic-related shooting, but investigators quickly identified Khalfani Hardwick — a killer who dodged jail time in a 2014 homicide — as the gunman, the New York Post reported.
“Judge Hardwick was involved in a domestic incident with his son and suffered serious injuries from a gunshot wound,” Assistant Chief Deputy Wesley Richerson of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office told the news outlet.
After the shooting occurred, Khalfani Hardwick fled the scene in a pickup truck, which he abandoned about five miles from the family home. He was tracked down and taken into custody about a mile away from the vehicle.
Johnny Hardwick had to undergo emergency surgery for “serious” injuries, Richerson said.
The victim was listed in critical condition, reported NBC News.
Law enforcement officials did not disclose what led to the shooting or and how many times the judge was shot.
Khalfani Hardwick is currently being held in the Montgomery County Detention Center in lieu of $15,000 bond.
In 2014, Khalfani Hardwick shot and killed another man, identified as Clayton Riley, a family friend.
After initially failing to appear at the start of his own trial, Khalfani Hardwick reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in 2017. He pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault.
Khalfani Hardwick, whose father was a sitting judge at the time, served no prison time for the homicide. He received a three-year suspended sentence and was placed on supervised probation, WFSA reported.
Judge Hardwick has served on the 15th Judicial Circuit since 2001. He was named the president of the Alabama Association of Circuit Court Judges last August.
