UNIONTOWN, Pa. — Last month, a stray bullet from a gun fired blocks away from the Fayette County Courthouse went through a third-story window and lodged into the back of a judge’s chair while she was seated in it.
Now, commissioners and the courthouse are looking at ways to make the building safer.
Police say the Judge Linda Cordero wasn’t the target of the shooting, and neither was the courthouse.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >> Fayette County courthouse hit by bullet; 1 juvenile in custody
No one has been charged in the incident, but it’s made safety at the courthouse top of mind for many.
Fayette County Commissioner Scott Dunn said it was just something “out of the ordinary.”
“It’s something we take seriously. Not only do we have employees and visitors, we have jurors during court week,” Dunn said. “This is a place where we have a lot of activity, and we need to make sure everyone who comes through the doors remains safe.”
The county has a safety committee that was already working on recommendations before this shooting, but recently gave commissioners a verbal report.
Dunn said they can’t give a lot of specifics about their security operations, but one thing they’re looking at now is placing a ballistic film on windows – which helps stop it from shattering if hit by a bullet.
“We’ve looked into that, not only after this, but we were actually looking into that prior to this occurrence, so it’s something we will continue to look into,” Dunn said.
Of course -- that will cost money. The next step is finding the funding.
“We’ll look for grant funding or internal funding,” Dunn said. “As soon as we figure that out, we’ll have a game plan.”
Dunn said this is all in the early stages. Right now, there is no timetable for when any of these enhanced safety projects could be completed.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
