Lawyer OK After Man Allegedly Shot at Him with Rifle in Law Firm Parking Lot Near Va. Courthouse
A suspect is being held without bond after allegedly shooting at a Virginia attorney with a rifle in a law firm parking lot across from the main courthouse in Chesterfield County.
Authorities say Mark M. Lowe, 41, shot at the lawyer and missed. The attorney, who has not been publicly identified, is opposing counsel in a child custody case that involved Lowe, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The Associated Press reports that both the suspect and the lawyer were in court for a hearing Thursday morning.
Another hearing is scheduled Friday in General District Court for Lowe, who faces charges of abduction, attempted murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and shooting into an occupied dwelling.
The attorney and a bystander were slightly injured as they fell when trying to escape from the gunman in the lot outside the Barnes & Diehl matrimonial firm, but no one suffered a gunshot wound. The Times-Dispatch article says police are investigating whether shots were fired inside the law office, too. The incident occurred at about 1:40 p.m. on Thursday.
An off-duty officer with Virginia Capitol Police and a plainclothes Chesterfield County police lieutenant happened to be at hand at the time of the shooting. With guns drawn, they confronted the suspect and disarmed and arrested him, the article recounts.
“He didn’t drop the weapon, but he didn’t point it at them, either,” Chesterfield police Capt. David Pritchard told the newspaper. “So they took it out of his hand.”
The law firm is across the street from the courthouse, and sheriff’s officers secured the courthouse and surrounding area after the shooting.
Barnes & Diehl did not immediately respond to a phone message from the ABA Journal.
Last updated at 6:06 p.m. to include suspect’s identity and charges.
