Oklahoma judge arrested in Austin, Texas, accused of shooting parked cars, rear-ending another

A longtime Oklahoma judge won't be hearing any cases after being accused of a shooting spree and reckless driving in Austin, Texas, earlier this month.

Brian Lovell, an associate district judge in Garfield County, Oklahoma, was arrested in a Sept. 11 incident during which at least five vehicles were shot at, and he is accused of intentionally striking another vehicle at a red light and nearly pushing it into cross traffic with the SUV he was driving.

He faces a misdemeanor reckless driving charge in the arrest, according to an Austin police affidavit filed with the Austin City Municipal Court. And could face a felony indictment for deadly conduct in discharging a weapon once a grand jury hears the evidence, according to Travis County District Court documents.

Police stopped Lovell's vehicle on Sept. 11 about two miles away from a report of shots fired from about 90 minutes earlier. Lovell told police he had two handguns in his car, but "he did not know why he would have shot his gun and he could not recall any part of the shooting incident," according to the court documents.

Lovell told police the other driver cut him off in traffic and he rear-ended her vehicle, the documents say. He also recalled rear-ending (the other) vehicle a second time, but did not admit the collisions were intentional, police said.

Lovell, 58, could not be reached Thursday for comment by The Oklahoman, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. He declined to speak to a reporter with Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFOR who went to the judge's home Wednesday.

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Videos showed accused judge's SUV rear-end car, according to affidavit

Police obtained spent shell casings – one from a struck vehicle – and observed video of the white SUV in the area where vehicles had been shot at, according to court documents. Police also obtained video evidence of Lovell's vehicle hitting the car at the red light, the documents say.

Lovell was jailed after the road rage and shooting incidents, then released on $10,000 bond and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. He faces a misdemeanor reckless driving charge and could face a felony indictment over the shooting incident once a grand jury hears evidence.

Lovell became an associate district judge in January after running for the position unopposed. He had been a special judge in Garfield County before that, since 2011.

Paul Woodward, the presiding administrative judge for the Garfield County district, said Lovell agreed to not preside over any cases until his own case is resolved. "He's been a good friend and colleague for years. It's hard for me to believe any of this."

Contributing: The Associated Press.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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