Search for suspect in fatal shooting of Maryland judge continues for a fourth day

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — A manhunt for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a Maryland judge endured for a fourth day Sunday as government finished their seek of a space the place the suspect’s SUV was once discovered.

Officials mentioned Pedro Argote, 49, is suspected of gunning down Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson in his driveway on Thursday, hours after Wilkinson dominated in opposition to him in a divorce case.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office mentioned Saturday that the silver Mercedes SUV that Argote was once believed to be riding was once discovered in a wooded house in Williamsport, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) southwest of Hagerstown, the place the judge was once shot. On Sunday, the sheriff’s place of job mentioned in a Facebook post that government have concluded their seek of the Williamsport house.

“No further information indicates that Argote is still in the immediate area,” the sheriff’s place of job mentioned. It steered someone with information on Argote’s whereabouts to touch government.

Wilkinson, 52, was once shot the similar day he awarded custody of Argote’s youngsters to his spouse. Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert mentioned it was once a “targeted attack.”

Albert mentioned native, state and federal regulation enforcement companies are collaborating in the quest for Argote. The U.S. Marshals Service is providing a praise of as much as $10,000 for information resulting in Argote’s arrest.

The Marshals Service mentioned Argote has ties to more than one spaces out of doors of Maryland, together with Brooklyn and Long Island, New York; Tampa and Clearwater, Florida; Columbus, Indiana; and North Carolina.

Judges around the U.S. had been the objective of threats and low violence in fresh years. President Joe Biden final yr signed a invoice to provide around-the-clock safety coverage to the households of Supreme Court justices after the leak of a draft courtroom opinion overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion-rights choice, which induced protests out of doors the houses of conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices.