The previous year was marked by several extraordinary and widely shared police encounters and courtroom incidents. These events ranged from a suspect hurling his entire body at a judge to police officers being ambushed while responding to a 911 call.
Here are some of 2024’s most viral police encounters and courtroom moments.
Clark County, Nevada, inmate attacks judge in court
A Clark County, Nevada, judge and a marshal sustained injuries in early January after a defendant, who was refused bail, launched himself over the bench and assaulted the judge as captured in a video.
In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, Redden’s attorney requested the judge give his client probation.
“I think it’s time he got a taste of something else,” Holthus responded.
District Judge Mary Kay Holthus becomes emotional as she testifies against Deobra Redden during Redden’s trial at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP)
Redden is then seen flying in the air over the bench with his arms and legs outstretched, before landing on the judge.
The defendant, who had grabbed the judge’s hair, had to be wrestled off her by her clerk, Michael Lasso, and several court and jail officers, some of whom threw punches. Lasso was treated for cuts on his hands, and a marshal was hospitalized for a dislocated shoulder and a gash on his forehead. Holthus suffered some injuries but was back to work the next day.
Redden ultimately pleaded guilty but mentally ill in September to attempted murder and other charges shortly after Hothus testified that she feared for her life when he jumped over her four-foot-high bench and landed on her.
In December, a judge sentenced Redden to serve between 26 and 65 years in a Nevada prison for the attack.
Courtroom erupts in chaos as son bursts in, shoots dad’s killer
A man attending the murder trial for his father’s killer in Brazil interrupted court proceedings to shoot the suspect half a dozen times and assault him.
Video of the attack was captured on CCTV from the courtroom in São José do Belmonte. The video shows the judges and jury scattering for cover as Cristiano Alves Terto, 27, opened fire at Franscico Cleidivaldo Mariano de Moura, 38.
It remains unclear how Terto had made it into the courtroom with a .38-caliber revolver. The attack occurred on November 29, 2023, but police only released the video on April 1, 2024.
The gunman – later identified as Karl Chludinsky – slammed the door, but the gun battle continued through the closed door.
Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Jack DiCristofalo was shot as the hail of gunfire raged.
DiCristofalo was injured, but his vest saved his life. He was treated at a hospital and released the same day, according to police.
Bodycam shows wild Houston gunfight as officers respond to active home invasion robbery
Houston police released a series of bodycam videos showing officers responding to an active home invasion robbery when one of the suspects ambushed them with gunfire in front of a mother and her children.
Three men were arrested, including two gunmen who appeared inside the home on video and their alleged getaway driver, according to authorities.
A mother on the floor pleading for help inside warned officers that “there’s another” when they entered the home and encountered the first suspect in her kitchen.
A second later, the second man popped out of a back doorway and opened fire.
One of the officers suffered a gunshot wound to the leg after police say Raymond Perez, 35, began shooting.
Video shows that he immediately returned fire as he collapsed to the ground. At the same time, the other officer handcuffed Michael Perez, 38, in the kitchen of a home on Alderney Drive. The video shows that he recovered a handgun during the arrest, and Perez can be heard telling the officer that he also had a knife.
Raymond Perez fled out the back door, but backup officers captured him on the street about a block away, the video shows.
The wounded officer, Scott Durfee, struggles through the pain on the floor as he keeps his weapon up in an effort to protect a woman and her children who were just a few feet away during the exchange of gunfire.
His partner handcuffed Michael Perez and then raced over with a tourniquet. An ambulance arrived a few minutes later to take Durfee, an eight-year veteran of the department, to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. He was treated and has since been released.
Police later arrested a third suspect, the alleged wheelman identified as Brian A. Garcia Chavez, 18, on Hollister Road.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken, Landon Mion, Louis Casiano, Chris Pandolfo, Chris Eberhart and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
