By Mike Gagliardi -
NBC News
A Montgomery, Alabama, judge is in critical condition after he was allegedly injured Saturday by his son, who had been convicted of shooting another person in 2014.
Johnny Hardwick, presiding judge of Montgomery County's 15th Judicial Circuit, was allegedly assaulted and injured by his son Khalfani A. Hardwick, 36, following a domestic dispute, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.
[A man confesses to his wife that he just killed his son and everything is recorded on camera]
"At approximately 1:00 p.m. the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office responded to the residence of Judge Johnny Hardwick for a domestic incident," police said.
"Upon arrival, officers learned that Judge Hardwick had been assaulted, shot, and seriously injured by his son," according to a news release.
Judge Johnny Hardwick in a 2020 photo.Jake Crandall / The Montgomery Advertiser via USA Today Network
Police said the son fled the scene and abandoned his vehicle on Trotman Road.
Shortly afterward he was located on Highway 231 and arrested.
Khalfani Hardwick was charged with first-degree domestic violence and possession of weapons prohibited by certain persons.
He is in the custody of the authorities.
In 2014, Khalfani Hardwick pleaded guilty to second-degree assault after shooting Clayton Riley, a family friend, in the head: he did not go to prison.
Johnny Hardwick worked in federal, state and city of Montgomery positions before being appointed to the district court in 2001.
Last August he was appointed president of the Alabama Circuit Judges Association.