Suspects arrested in White Castle shooting of 2 judges won't be charged at this time
Judges Andrew Adams and Bradley Jacobs.
Updated: Prosecutors have declined to charge two men who were arrested in connection with the May 1 shooting of two judges who were in Indianapolis to attend a judicial conference.
Marion County, Indiana, Prosecutor Terry Curry announced Friday that additional investigation was needed, report the Indianapolis Star and WISH TV.
Police had previously arrested Alfredo Vazquez, 23, and Brandon Kaiser, 41, according to reports by the Indianapolis Star (here and here), Fox 59 and WISH TV. Both were booked into the Marion County Jail on Sunday.
The men were accused in the shooting and wounding of Clark County judges Bradley Jacobs and Andrew Adams in a White Castle parking lot.
“We have received the results of the investigation conducted to date, including video retrieved from surveillance cameras. At this time, we have determined that additional investigation must be completed before we can make a charging decision in the matter,” Curry said in a statement.
Vazquez and Kaiser were expected to be released from jail.
Kaiser, previously identified as the alleged triggerman, had barricaded himself in his home for more than three hours before surrendering peacefully, according to WISH TV. He was accused of shooting Adams once in the stomach and Jacobs twice in the chest, according to the previous reports.
The shooting happened in the parking lot of a White Castle that the judges had visited after a night of bar hopping, according to police. A third person with the group of judges was in the White Castle, and a fourth was with them outside when Vazquez and Kaiser exchanged words with the judges, according to police. A physical fight broke out before the shooting.
A lawyer who is acting as spokesperson for the judges’ families, Larry Wilder, told the Indiana Lawyer that the judges remain in Indianapolis for treatment. “They continue to improve and are looking forward to that time which their doctors feel they are ready to come home,” he said.
In previous comments to reporters, Wilder did not comment on why the fight broke out, according to the Indianapolis Star. “All that counts is there’s an allegation that two of our own were in a place where someone tried to kill them and take their lives,” he said. “All the other facts bore me. … I find them to be insignificant and irrelevant to what is important.”
Police released video of the suspects’ SUV last Friday. According to a probable cause affidavit, the suspects had been kicked out of a local bar before the shooting. Vazquez had paid his tab at the bar with a credit card, which helped police identify him.
Vazquez told police he had been at the bar, and he and Kaiser had gotten into a fight at the White Castle with two people he didn’t know. He said he stopped fighting because he thought one victim had had enough. He identified Kaiser as the shooter.
Vazquez initially was charged with assisting a criminal, while Kaiser was initially charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, carrying a handgun without a license and battery.
The judges were in Indianapolis to attend the Spring Judicial College, a three-day educational event sponsored by the Indiana Supreme Court.
Updated on May 10 at 1:25 p.m. to report that prosecutors declined to file charges.
