Ohio Judge Shot by Father of Steubenville Rapist

The father of one of the high school football players convicted of raping a girl in the Ohio town of Steubenville four years ago opened fire on a judge outside a courthouse Monday morning, police say. Nathaniel Richmond was killed after Jefferson County Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. and a probation officer returned fire, the AP reports. The judge was taken to a Pittsburgh-area hospital, where he is in stable condition and is expected to survive. Authorities say Richmond and Bruzzese, described as a "tough son of a gun" by a colleague, fired about five times each, though it's not clear whether the judge or the probation officer killed Richmond, who was hit three times.

Richmond's son, Ma'Lik Johnson, now 21, served less than a year for the 2012 rape. Authorities say Richmond apparently targeted the judge and ambushed him near his reserved parking space, though there is no apparent connection between the judge and the rape case. Bruzzese had "nothing at all to do with that particular case," prosecutor Jane Hanlin said Monday, per the Washington Post. But there is a link: Court records show that Bruzzese was overseeing a wrongful-death lawsuit that Richmond filed against the Jefferson County Metropolitan Housing Authority earlier this year. More details on the case haven't been provided. Richmond's criminal record includes an arrest a few years ago on domestic violence and assault charges. (More Steubenville stories.)