GOODWATER, Ala. - A police officer shot and wounded a man who was in court on a domestic violence charge Thursday after he attacked a judge and tried to grab a gun from a spectator, police said.
People who were in the courtroom disputed that account, saying they did not see the man hit or threaten the judge or attempt to grab a weapon.
Sara Williams said she was sitting in the front row when the man, whom she knew, got agitated after the judge fined him $800. He was wearing a cast on his leg and waved one of his crutches in the air.
"The police were hollering for him to get down" when an officer opened fire, she said.
Williams said she yelled "Don't shoot him no more!" right before the officer fired again.
Afterward, she and more than a dozen people stood across the street from City Hall chanting, "We want justice."
The wounded man was rushed to a local hospital and later flown to a Birmingham hospital by helicopter. There was no immediate word on his condition.
Frank Teel, a lawyer in nearby Rockford, said the shooting happened during court at Goodwater City Hall, where district court proceedings are held once a month for people who can't get to the county seat. His brother, attorney Carlton Teel, is a county district judge and was in the building at the time.
"I've not talked to him, but I'm told he was OK," Frank Teel said. The judge's aide suffered powder burns, he said.
Goodwater is a town of 1,500 about 60 miles north of Montgomery.