Judge, deputy hurt in attack at Wash. courthouse

MONTESANO, Wash. — An attack at the Grays Harbor County courthouse wounded a deputy and a judge today and police were looking for a suspect, according to initial reports from the state patrol. Much of the tiny town of Montesano was on lockdown, and authorities asked a radio station to tell residents to lock their doors and stay inside. Authorities were looking for one man who may be armed with a pistol. Washington State Patrol Trooper Russ Winger said the attack included a shooting and stabbing, but he did not know the extent of the injuries at the Grays Harbor County Courthouse, about 90 miles southwest of Seattle. Grays Harbor Community Hospital spokesman David Quigg told The Aberdeen Daily World newspaper that Judge David Edwards was in satisfactory condition. The deputy was identified as Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Detective Polly Davin, who also was listed in satisfactory condition at the hospital. No other details were immediately available. Kathie Wilson, who works at a law firm half a block from the courthouse, said her office locked their doors after getting a call from her daughter-in-law, who was locked in a school while picking her child. “Everybody in our area has called each other, locking down, we are all watching and waiting to see when everything is OK,” Wilson said. The judge who was wounded had sued last year to protest budget cuts that he said were making the courthouse dangerous. Judge Edwards joined his fellow judges in the legal action against planned state budget cuts for courts, specifically saying the Grays Harbor County Courthouse lacks proper security. The Daily World reported at the time that lawsuit sought a legal order requiring “proper, secure and safe operation of the courthouse.”