Five people were arrested in connection with the shooting of an Indiana judge and his wifeat their home, officials said Thursday, after what police described as a “coordinated, multistate operation involving hundreds of investigative hours.”
Three people from Indiana and two from Kentucky were arrested in connection to the Sunday shooting of Tippecanoe County Judge Steven P. Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, in Lafayette around 2 p.m., according to police. The Meyers both survived the shooting and were in stable condition after being taken to the hospital, according to authorities.
Raylen Ferguson, a 38-year-old from Lexington, Kentucky, and two men from Lafayette — Thomas Moss, 43, and Blake Smith, 32 — were each charged with counts of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery, plus gang and firearm enhancements.
Amanda Milsap, 45, of Lafayette, was charged with bribery and obstruction of justice, and Zenada Greer, 61, of Lexington, was charged with assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice.
Officials have not detailed an alleged motive in the shooting. Court records show that Moss is a defendant in an ongoing case in Meyer’s court in which he faces several charges including domestic battery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a violent felon.
An attorney for Moss did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Attorneys are not listed in court documents for Ferguson, Smith, Milsap or Greer.
The office of the Tippecanoe County’s prosecutor, Pat Harrington, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meyer said in a statement Wednesday that he was “so grateful for the outpouring of support from friends, the community, court colleagues, and law enforcement.” He added that he was receiving “excellent care” and that he and his wife’s conditions were improving.
“I want the community to know that I have strong faith in our judicial system,” he wrote. “This horrific violence will not shake my belief in the importance of peacefully resolving disputes. I remain confident we have the best judicial system in the world, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
Meyer had recently announced that he was planning to retire at the end of 2026 after serving for 12 years. He had been elected as a Tippecanoe County judge as a Democrat in 2014 and oversaw several high-profile cases, including that of Natalia Grace Barnett, a Ukrainian-born girl whose adoptive American parents abandoned her. Before that role, he served as a city council member in Lafayette.
The shooting follows several high-profile incidents of political violence in recent years, including several in which public figures were targeted in their homes. In June, Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband were shot and killed in their home just north of Minneapolis. Months prior, an arsonist set the home of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ablaze. President Donald Trump faced two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign.
Shortly after the shooting Sunday at the Meyers’ home, Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush said she worried “about the safety of all our judges.”
“As you work to peacefully resolve more than 1 million cases a year, you must not only feel safe, you must also be safe,” she wrote in a statement. “Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable. As public servants, you are dedicated to the rule of law.”
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