Indianapolis police have arrested two men in connection with the May 1 shooting of two judges who were in the city to attend a judicial conference.
Police have arrested Alfredo Vazquez, 23, and Brandon Kaiser, 41, report the Indianapolis Star, Fox 59 and WISH TV. Both were booked into the Marion County Jail on Sunday. The men are accused in the shooting and wounding of Clark County judges Bradley Jacobs and Andrew Adams, who have received “exceptional” hospital care, according to a family spokesperson.
Kaiser, the alleged trigger-man, had barricaded himself in his home for more than three hours before surrendering peacefully, according to WISH TV. He is accused of shooting Adams once in the stomach and Jacobs twice in the chest.
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 reporters Monday that Adams could return home in a few days, but Jacobs will have a longer road to recovery, according to the Indianapolis Star. On Tuesday, Wilder said the families were relieved that the suspects were arrested without harming any officers.
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 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.