The search for a man suspected of fatally shooting a Maryland judge outside his home on Thursday night remains ongoing, authorities said Monday, with law enforcement having located his abandoned SUV over the weekend.
Pedro Argote, 49, is considered armed and dangerous after authorities say he shot Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, shortly after losing custody of his children in a court hearing that Wilkinson presided over.
“We’re going to catch this guy. It’s just a matter of time,” Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said at a press conference Saturday evening. There were no additional updates as of Monday morning on the manhunt, a public information officer with the sheriff’s office told HuffPost.
Argote’s SUV was located in a remote area of Williamsport, Maryland, earlier in the day Saturday — roughly eight miles from where the shooting in Hagerstown occurred. The vehicle could have been there since Thursday night or Friday, said Albert.
Authorities said they had not yet searched the vehicle, with them waiting until it had been properly impounded.
“We want to make sure we have an ironclad case when we catch him,” Albert said. The firearm used in the shooting is not believed to be in the vehicle, he added, without elaborating.
Argote did not have a criminal record prior to last week’s violence and had legally purchased a handgun, according to Albert, though last year his estranged wife reportedly requested a protection order against him.
That legal petition, reviewed by NBC News, accused Argote of physically abusing the couple’s 11-year-old daughter and threatening to falsely accuse his wife of neglect in order to take custody of their four kids. The petition was dismissed two weeks after it was filed, however, for reasons not immediately known.
A law firm representing Argote’s family, and collecting donations for them as they remain in hiding, has expressed gratitude to Judge Wilkinson, calling him “an amazing man, father, husband and judge.”
“We are incredibly blessed to have known him and worked with him. He is a hero. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, the legal community and law enforcement,” said the Wilburn Law Office in a statement.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a reward up to $10,000 for information that leads to Argote’s arrest.