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The investigation into the May 1 shootings of two judges outside a White Castle restaurant in Indianapolis is still, nearly a month later, shrouded in mystery as charges still have not been filed against those accused in the attack – and details are only just beginning to trickle out through hearings on a separate drunken-driving case.
Clark County Judges Andrew Adams and Brad Jacobs were recovering at their homes Friday after being released this month from the hospital. Police arrested Alfredo Vazquez, 23, and his uncle, Robert Kaiser, 41, in the days after the shootings, telling the IndyStar that they got the “right people that were involved” and that it is now “up to the prosecutor.”
But the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has yet to file charges against either man – and the office is being tight-lipped as to why.
Brandon Kaiser, left, and Alfredo Vazquez, the two men suspected by police -- but not charged yet -- in the shootings of two judges in Indianapolis. (Marion County Sheriff’s Department)
TWO JUDGES SHOT IN PARKING LOT OF INDIANAPOLIS WHITE CASTLE RESTAURANT
The incident unfolded in the early morning hours of May 1 as Jacobs and Adams, along with two other people, had been bar-hopping in Indianapolis’ downtown area, police say.
The jurists were standing outside a White Castle restaurant around 3:30 a.m when a car pulled up and its passengers got out. Words were exchanged and a fight broke out before shots were fired, police said. It was not clear what the argument was about.
Police released surveillance video showing two suspects getting out of an SUV outside the restaurant and asked for the public's help in identifying them.
Kasier, whom police suspect pulled the trigger, and Vazquez, who they believe held one of the judges down during the shooting, were taken into custody on May 5, according to the IndyStar. Detectives found no evidence the judges were targeted because of their position, police said.
“We have received the results of the investigation conducted to date, including video retrieved from surveillance cameras," Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry added in a statement five days later. "At this time, we have determined that additional investigation must be completed before we can make a charging decision.”
Vazquez, prior to his alleged involvement in the shootings, pleaded guilty to drunken driving in April, the IndyStar reported.
That case so far has offered the only recent clues as to where the investigation into the shootings is heading.
INDIANA JUDGES ‘HEARTBROKEN’ OVER VIOLENT ACT AGAINST COLLEAGUES
Clark County Judges Andrew Adams, left, and Brad Jacobs. (Clark County Circuit Court)
On May 21, Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Jessica Riley told a judge that investigators looking for evidence in the shootings found a loaded 9-mm handgun hidden under a mattress at Vazquez’s home – a firearm that uses the same casings and bullets that court records reportedly say were found outside the White Castle.
"The search warrant that led to the discovery of this firearm was based upon the shooting of two judges outside of White Castle," Riley was quoted by the IndyStar as saying. "I'm sure we're testing the firearm. I'm not sure how long that will take."
The prosecutor was arguing that Vazquez's alleged possession of the weapon violated the terms of his probation in the drunken driving case, and asked a judge to order him to serve a 351-day prison sentence that was suspended after he pled guilty in April.
The judge denied the request, the IndyStar reported, and Vazquez was walking free later that day – with a GPS bracelet placed on his ankle – after posting a cash bond of $2,500.
The director of the Marion County Forensic Services Agency told IndyStar that firearms ballistics tests in Indianapolis take around three weeks to complete, but they can be done in mere days if prosecutors ask for them to be expedited.
Yet on May 28, which the IndyStar says was 24 days after the gun was found, Riley told the judge that testing on the gun still isn’t finished.
“Any further evidence regarding the firearm remains under investigation,” Michael Leffler, a spokesperson with the prosecutor’s office, told the newspaper this week after investigators once again declined to speak about the case.
Both judges also have not spoken out in the wake of the attack.
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Kaiser, the other person accused, was released from the Marion County Jail on May 10. Vazquez’s next hearing in the drunken-driving case is set for June 25.
Fox News' Louis Casiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
