AUSTIN, Texas — Authorities provided few details Saturday about the Texas state judge who was shot and wounded in the driveway of her Austin home.
District Judge Julie Kocurek remained hospitalized with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening. She was wounded shortly after 10 p.m. Friday upon returning to her home in the well-to-do Terrytown neighborhood.
Authorities began a large manhunt Friday night, but as of midday Saturday, no arrests had been made.
“At this point we don’t have a lot of information about the suspect,” Austin Police Cmdr. Mark Spangler said at a news conference overnight. Police had no further details about motive or information from the scene on Saturday, but said more information would be released later in the day.
Kocurek, a former prosecutor, was appointed to the 390th District court in Travis County, which includes Austin, by then-Gov. George W. Bush in 1999. Later, she became the only Republican elected to a state district judgeship in the left-leaning county, but switched parties and became a Democrat in 2006.
“Our hearts go out to Judge Kocurek and her family. We wish her a speedy recovery,” the Texas Democratic Party tweeted Saturday. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s office said he was praying for Kocurek’s recovery and for Austin police “in apprehending those responsible.”
She is perhaps best known for her statements after former Gov. Rick Perry was indicted on felony coercion and abuse-of-power charges by an Austin grand jury in August 2014.
Perry held a news conference where he vowed: “This farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is” adding that “those responsible will be held to account.” Kocurek responded that that could be interpreted as a threat against members of the grand jury, and that they would be protected from Perry or anyone else since “no one is above the law.”
Perry abandoned his presidential campaign in September, and now only faces the abuse-of-power charge, which is being reviewed by the state’s highest court.
The judge also is overseeing the oft-delayed case of Mark Norwood, who has pleaded not guilty in the 1988 killing of an Austin woman, Debra Masters Baker. Norwood was convicted of the 1986 slaying of Christine Morton, whose husband wrongly spent nearly 25 years in prison for her death.
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