Judge's house shot up

BY ALISON GENDAR, KERRY BURKE and NICOLE BODE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Wednesday, August 13th 2008, 12:35 AM

The home of a Queens judge was strafed with gunfire Tuesday in an attack that rattled neighbors and his colleagues on the bench.

No one was home when bullets flew into the Oakland Gardens home of acting Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho about 4:30 a.m. Three went into the first-floor kitchen and another slammed into the front yard, police and court sources confirmed.


"I heard the shots and then the alarm went off in the judge's house," said Laurence Lefkowitz, 82, who lives two doors down.

Later, Lefkowitz said he spotted four shells casings in front of the home.

"You'd never expect this to happen here," he said. "It's such a quiet neighborhood. Thank God my neighbors weren't home at the time."

The attack worried some jurists, who feared Camacho - a domestic violence judge - was the target of an unhappy defendant.

Camacho's Kew Gardens courtroom handles cases involving both criminal and domestic violence charges.

"Somebody was sending a message," said one judge.

Investigators were still searching for a motive for the shooting, but sources said they believed it could be a case of mistaken identity.

A 20-year-old neighbor of Camacho's had been squabbling with another man and could have targeted the judge's house by mistake, sources said.

Camacho - who's been on the bench since 1997 - was on vacation when the shooting occurred.

He and his wife returned to their tidy single-family home Tuesday to speak with investigators. The couple has two children, 7 and 4, but they did not appear to be at home.

"I really can't [talk] right now," Camacho told reporters. "Maybe in a couple of days."

Police have video footage from multiple security cameras showing an SUV fleeing the scene just after the shooting, a source said.

The attack sent shock waves through the tony community just west of Alley Pond Park and south of the Long Island Expressway.

"Me and my husband were awakened by the gunshots. It was four shots and the judge's alarm went off. Everybody in the neighborhood was up," said neighbor Cathy Losito.

Camacho is on the verge of selling the house - with the new buyers under contract and awaiting bank approval, a real estate agent confirmed Tuesday. Camacho and his family were expected to relocate to Nassau County, neighbors said.

Link - Judge's house shot up
nbode@nydailynews.com

With Robert Erikson

My two cents

Once again for those of you in the back row that don't pay close attention to the small details..
I DO NOT condone out of control behaviour or violence.. in my opinion the person that did this is out of control and needs to be dealt with appropriately...

However.. the person at the other end of the gun used in this shooting is obviously at the end of his/her rope and is probably sending a message..

"Did 'they' hear it?"

Probably not.. so I'll share my thoughts on this..

THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN... THE PUBLIC DEMANDS JUSTICE.. FIX IT!!