Senior Family Court Judge Charles McGee, left, one of the first people to reach a wounded Judge Chuck Weller, and Weller family spokesman Jim Denton discuss the shooting Friday in Reno Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO -- A senior judge who was one of the first to encounter a Family Court jurist after he had been shot in the chest by a sniper's bullet said Friday that Chuck Weller was the calmest person in the room after the Monday incident.
Senior Family Court Judge Charles McGee said Weller stood back up after being wounded through the window of his third floor courtroom chambers and asked for a cell phone to call home to get his wife out of their home for her safety.
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There had been incidents at Weller's home in the weeks leading up to the shooting that caused him to have concern for his family, including one malicious prank and something that made their dogs bark intensely on several occasions late at night.
When the shot rang out at just after 11 a.m. Monday, McGee said, "First I heard the shattering of glass and then I heard a thump. Also there was a scream."
McGee went toward Weller's office.
"The bailiffs came in with guns drawn and basically threw me down on the floor. Then we all crawled down and met Judge Weller, who for some reason had stood back up and was demanding a cell phone so he could call his wife and get her out of the house.
"He was the calmest person there, which kind of shows me the measure of the man," McGee said.
Also suffering minor injuries in the shooting was Weller's staff member, Annie Allison.
McGee and Jim Denton, a spokesman for Weller, discussed the judge in a courtroom at Washoe District Court, possibly the courtroom in which Darren Mack, a suspect in the shooting of Weller and the stabbing death of Mack's wife, Charla, could stand trial on the charges at some future date.
Weller was handling divorce proceedings of Darren and Charla Mack.
Mack, who was believed to have traveled to Sacramento after the Monday incidents, remains at large.
Investigators were following "hundreds and hundreds of Secret Witness reports from Des Moines to Miami into the wee hours of the morning," said police Lt. Ron Donnelly. "One of these tips is going to be a good one."
Detectives working in 24-hour shifts have been assisted by the FBI since a federal warrant was issued for Mack on Thursday.
Police said the vehicle that Mack was last believed to have been using has still not been found. The vehicle is described as a 2006 Ford Explorer, silver in color, displaying a California license plate 5POR 272.
Weller continues to recuperate at an undisclosed location.
Denton said the judge "is looking forward to being back at work."
"He's not one to sit around and play tiddledywinks," Denton said.
McGee said senior judges have been brought in to handle the Family Court calendar through the end of the month, though Weller doesn't want to be out that long.
"He said, 'I want to come back this week,'" McGee said. "I said, 'You can't.' "
If Mack does stand trial for the death of his wife and the shooting of Weller, McGee acknowledged that many of the district court judges would have a conflict in presiding over the case. A senior judge or a district judge from Las Vegas might be brought in to handle the case.
Denton said Weller also wanted to extend his condolences to the Mack family.
"Chuck Weller asked me to relay his deep sorrow for the tragedy to the entire Mack family," Denton said. "The family did not deserve this."
McGee said the sniper attack was an attack on the entire court system.
"I was more afraid than Judge Weller," he said. "I don't want to go to work afraid."
