A former Stephens County judge is facing attempted-murder and assault charges after police say he fired a gun toward trick-or-treating children outside his Duncan, Oklahoma home on Halloween night and then pointed the weapon at a responding police officer. Jerry Herberger, 73, was arrested at the scene, booked into the Stephens County Jail — in the same county where he once sat on the bench — and later released on $250,000 bond, according to the Duncan Police Department and court reporting. No one was injured.

Source: News 9 (KWTV)

The incident happened at about 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, on Linwood Lane in Duncan, a city of roughly 22,000 people about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City. Police were called after witnesses said an intoxicated Herberger had threatened trick-or-treaters who came near his home and, with a gun in his hand, fired a round in the children's direction, the Lawton Constitution reported.

Source: ABA Journal, via the Lawton Constitution

"Don't come closer. I have a gun" — a mother's account

Carrie Smith told News 9 her family was walking the neighbourhood on Halloween, continuing a tradition they look forward to every year in a community she has always considered safe. She noticed a house at the end of the street with its lights on and a man standing in the yard by a light post. "I had noticed him, like, standing next to the light post. He looked like a dark figure and it looked honestly like he had some type of mask on. I thought, 'Oh, it's a Halloween skit,'" Smith said.

Source: News 9 (KWTV)

The confusion turned to fear when, she says, the man warned the family not to come closer, telling them he had a gun. "The next thing I hear is, 'Don't come closer. I have a gun,'" Smith recalled. She says the man then fired a shot, sending the neighbourhood into chaos. Smith said the experience was especially traumatic for her 4-year-old son, who later told her the man had tried to shoot him. "It's not something a 4-year-old should ever have to go through," she said. "Especially coming to me, saying, 'Mommy, that man tried to shoot me.'" Smith said her family will need counselling to process what happened.

Source: News 9 (KWTV)

Gun allegedly pointed at an officer, then a surrender

According to a statement from the Duncan Police Department, the suspect allegedly fired at trick-or-treaters and pointed a gun at responding officers when they arrived at his home. Loisdawn Jones, the city of Duncan's director of communications, said that as officers prepared to make contact at the home, Herberger allegedly pointed a gun at one of the officers; he then complied with officers' commands, exited the residence and was taken into custody, the Lawton Constitution reported.

Source: ABA Journal, via the Lawton Constitution

The charges, and what they can carry in Oklahoma

Herberger was booked on charges of attempted murder, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm while intoxicated, according to the Lawton Constitution. Under Oklahoma law as reported in coverage of the case, assault and battery with a deadly weapon is a felony that can carry a sentence of up to life in prison, while possession of a firearm while intoxicated is a misdemeanour carrying a maximum of six months in jail and a fine of up to $500, along with a possible six-month suspension of a handgun licence. All of the charges are allegations; Herberger has not been convicted of anything and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Source: ABA Journal / case coverage

Smith, the mother who spoke to News 9, raised the question many in Duncan are asking about how the encounter ended without gunfire from police: "There's a lot of speculation about if that would have been a different person, it would have went down differently, with a loaded gun being aimed up at the police officer," she said. She also asked: "If he wouldn't have been intoxicated, as they say, you know, where would that bullet have actually gone?"

Release conditions, and the county he once served

Herberger posted the $250,000 bond and is out of custody while the case proceeds. He is scheduled to appear in court in December, and as conditions of his release he must surrender his passport and all firearms to police, and he may not possess alcohol, News 9 reported, citing court records that identify him as a former Stephens County judge. The precise dates and length of his time on the bench have not been publicly confirmed by authorities in the reporting so far.

Source: News 9 (KWTV)

What happens next

The case now moves to Stephens County court, where Herberger is due to appear in December. Prosecutors will decide how the Halloween-night allegations are formally presented, and the defence will have its first opportunities to contest the attempted-murder and deadly-weapon counts — charges whose maximum exposure, up to life in prison on the assault-and-battery count, is extraordinary for a man who once decided cases in the same county's courts. Awaaz Punjab will follow the December hearing.