A judge’s fatal shooting in Maryland is under investigation. Now authorities are searching for answers – and protecting other judges

 A judge’s fatal shooting in Maryland is under investigation. Now authorities are searching for answers – and protecting other judges 

 

 A Maryland judge has been gunned down in a driveway, and police are scrambling to find answers about whoever killed him. 

 

 While the investigation continues, authorities have been dispatched to protect other judges in the state. 

 

 Judge Andrew Wilkinson was killed Thursday night in an apparent shooting in the northern Maryland city of Hagerstown, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said. 

 

 Deputies responded to a report of a shooting around 8 p.M. and found Wilkinson in a residential driveway with a gunshot wound, the sheriff's office said. 

 

 The judge was taken to a medical facility where he died,  the sheriff's office said. CNN has reached out to Maryland State Police for more information. 

 

 Currently, Maryland State Police officers have been “deployed to protect additional judges,” CNN affiliate WJLA reported.

 

 The sheriff's office plans to hold a news conference to provide more details about the ongoing investigation, he said. 

 

 A native of Agana, Guam, Wilkinson had served as an associate judge of the Washington County Circuit Court since January 2020, according to his legal biography. 

 

 He was a well-liked and respected member of the community with an "infectious smile," wrote Neil C. Parrott, a former delegate to the Maryland House of Delegates. 

 

 “Judge Wilkinson was an outstanding judge and  a pillar of our community,” Parrott said in a statement.“Today’s events  are devastating for Washington County, Maryland and  our justice system. Judge Wilkinson served faithfully and we will miss him greatly.