Judge Chuck Weller and aide Annie Allison listen to a question during a news conference Tuesday at the National Judicial College in Reno. Weller and Allison were injured in a sniper shooting this month. Photo by The Associated Press

RENO -- Speaking in a firm voice and showing no visible signs of injury, Washoe Family Court Judge Chuck Weller talked directly to the media on Tuesday for the first time since a sniper-fired bullet passed through his chest, narrowly missing his heart on June 12.

Weller was joined by his administrative assistant, Annie Allison, at the briefing at the National Judicial College on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.

"I was shot in the chest," he said. "I could tell you that I have five entrance wounds. I would be speculating on the number of bullets. I think there was more than one."

When asked how close a bullet came to his heart, Weller said he could not put a measurement on it. But he put his hand just above his heart and said: "I was hit here."

Regarding his health, Weller said, "I'm healing. I think I'm going to be 100 percent, but I'm not right now. I'm mostly OK."

Weller said he will return to the bench shortly, but that a specific date has not been set. Weller said he will spend the next few days with his family.

The man charged with shooting Weller, Reno pawnshop owner Darren Mack, is in the Washoe County Jail. He's detained without bail after surrendering to law enforcement officials in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Thursday.

Mack also is charged with killing his estranged wife, Charla, earlier that same day. Weller was presiding over the couple's divorce.

Security was tight for the media event. Attendees were required to pass through a metal detector, and many law enforcement officers, some with dogs, were in the area of the briefing.

Weller said judicial cannons limit what he can say because he might affect a pending case. He did not discuss details about why Mack would shoot him with a high-powered rifle from more than two blocks away while the jurist was in his chambers.

Weller said he heard shots and shattering glass when the incident occurred.

Immediately after the shooting, Weller told Reno police while en route to the Washoe Medical Center that Mack might have been involved.

Allison, who was injured by shrapnel in the shooting but who has returned to work, said what she remembers is that Weller's first thoughts were about his family. There had been some suspicions that the judge's house was being watched, including the family dogs barking at night.

"I think to the judge's credit, the first thing that he said was 'Call my wife and my family,' " Allison said. "To me, that was extremely touching."

Allison said she had to return to work to get back to normal.

"It was a terrible experience, but I have chosen to rise above it," she said.

At the briefing, Weller referred to Mack not by name but as the "suspect" because he said Mack, the cousin of former Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack, is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Upon hearing Friday that Mack had given himself up, Weller said, "I was pleased to know the suspect was apprehended and that perhaps the immediate danger was gone."

Weller and his family were protected by police at an undisclosed location after the shooting for fear that Mack might still be in the area.

"There were a lot of sightings of the suspect," he said. "I would hear the same day that he was sighted in Spain and on Kietztke Avenue (in Reno)."

Weller said police acted as if Mack was still in the area in terms of the protection they provided to him and his family.

Discussions of how to improve court security are under way. Weller said the number of violent incidents related to Family Court rulings are low, even with all that is at stake in disputes over child custody and the division of assets.

"It is a place of raw emotion," he said. "What we need to do and what we try to do in the Family Court is come up with a resolution where there is neither a winner nor a loser, but it is inevitable in many cases."

Weller said he does not know whether there are ways to ascertain who might become violent. If there is a way, it should be done, he said. Mack had voiced his views that Weller was biased against him in the media.

Weller, first elected to the bench in November 2004, refused to comment on Mack's criticism. "I can say my job is to go into the courtroom and decide cases without bias, and that's what I have striven to do the entire time I've been on the bench," he said.

Weller said the incident will inevitably affect how he performs his job, but, "I will try to make it a positive effect."