Judge Shot And Killed In Driveway Of His Home After Suspect Lost Custody Of Children In Divorce Case

On Thursday evening, a judge in Maryland was fatally shot in his driveway, at home, in a targeted attack.

Authorities are now searching for the suspect involved in the incident that happened hours after the suspect lost custody of his children during a divorce proceeding the judge presided over.

The deceased has been named as Washington County Circuit Court Associate Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52.

Pedro Argote, 49, has been identified as the suspect in the killing. He is said to be armed and dangerous.

On Thursday, Wilkinson presided over a hearing in regards to Argote’s divorce although Argote was not in attendance. Authorities say that Argote lost custody of his children in the hearing, prompting him to later shoot Wilkinson multiple times. It isn’t known exactly how many children Argote has.

Wilkinson, from Guam, had been a judge in the city of Hagerstown since January 2020.

An investigation is on-going.