Oklahoma judge indicted over drive-by shooting in Austin, Texas, last year
An Oklahoma judge has been indicted over a shooting in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 11.
A Travis County grand jury returned an indictment, charging Brian Lovell with eight felony counts of deadly conduct.
Grand jurors alleged Lovell recklessly shot at eight vehicles from his SUV while driving down a street. Police reported getting a call about shots fired at parked vehicles at 4:09 p.m.
Lovell, 59, is an associate district judge in Garfield County, which is in northern Oklahoma. He has declined to talk to the media since the incident. He is not presiding over any cases.
The indictment was filed Thursday in Travis County District Court. His attorney in Texas did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.
Lovell was arrested after a traffic collision around 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11 about 1.7 miles from the shooting site. He was charged last year with a misdemeanor, reckless driving, over the collision.
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"Lovell advised he did not know why he would have shot his gun and he could not recall any part of the shooting incident," an Austin police detective reported in court affidavits. He did admit he rear-ended another vehicle twice after being cut off in traffic "but did not admit the collisions were intentional," the detective reported.
The indictment was expected but did reveal the shooting was more extensive than initial reports indicated.
The targeted vehicles were identified in the indictment as a 2017 Hyundai, a 2010 Toyota, a 2021 Chevrolet, a 2014 Jeep, a 2020 Toyota, a 2023 Subaru, a 2015 Nissan and a 2023 GMC.
Lovell came under investigation last year in Oklahoma because of a drive-by shooting at his brother-in-law's ranch near Bison on Feb. 12, 2023. No one was injured.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation began looking at that shooting at the request of the Garfield County sheriff's office. The request was made Sept. 20, after the incidents in Austin came to light.
The OSBI has reported spent casings out of Bison matched a spent casing recovered in Austin. The judge lives in Waukomis, which is just over 7 miles by car from the ranch.
He could face an indictment over the ranch shooting, too, once evidence is presented to the Oklahoma multicounty grand jury. His Oklahoma attorney, Stephen Jones, has said he was not involved.
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Lovell also could face disciplinary proceedings before the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary. The married judge is accused of sending sexual texts to a married female bailiff. The Council on Judicial Complaints has been investigating.
"That's beyond the scope of the Council on Judicial Complaints," Jones said Monday. "Even if true ... there's case law that would seriously question whether that's something for the Court on the Judiciary or the Council on Judicial Complaints."
Officials with the Council on Judicial Complaints do not speak about its investigations because of strict secrecy requirements. The bailiff, who worked for another judge, has resigned.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Judge Brian Lovell indicted over shooting in Texas
