2003 Van Nuys Courthouse Shooting
On October 31, 2003, an attorney named Gerald E. Curry was shot several times outside the Los Angeles County Superior Courthouse in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, California. On the day of the shooting, the murder trial of Robert Blake was being held inside the courthouse. Consequently, numerous media outlets were on hand and captured Curry's shooting on tape. The story of Curry's shooting made international headlines and the footage of his attempted murder was broadcast all over the world.
Background[edit]
In 2002, a man named William Strier received a $100,000 personal injury settlement after an accident. However, the majority of the $100,000 settlement was placed into a trust by the court so that it could be used for Strier's medical care and physical therapy. Strier, who was sixty-three years old at the time of the shooting, was dissatisfied with this arrangement. As a result, he retained legal counsel so that he could get direct access to the money. The trustee who was appointed to oversee Strier's funds contested the suit and retained the services of Gerald Curry. According to his own statements, Strier was incensed by the fact that Curry's fees were being paid out of his $100,000.
The Shooting[edit]
On the day of the shooting, Curry, Strier, Strier's attorney, and the trustee of the $100,000 had appeared for a probate hearing at the courthouse. After the hearing, as Curry was walking along a sidewalk outside the courthouse, Strier walked up to him and began firing shots into his face with two handguns. Fearing for his life, Curry took cover behind a tree as Strier continued to fire a fusilade of bullets at him. In all, five shots hit Curry in his face and upper body.
When Strier ran out of ammunition, he slid the pistols into the pockets of his windbreaker and strolled calmly away from the bullet-riddled Curry. Police officers and sheriff's deputies at the courthouse heard the shots being fired and rushed toward the noise. As they arrived, David Katz, a municipal court judge who moonlighted as a reserve sheriff's deputy tackled Strier as he tried to walk away from the scene. Strier was subdued quickly and taken into custody.
Gerald Curry was rushed to the trauma center of a local hospital. While Curry suffered several close-range gunshot wounds, none of them were life threatening and he made a complete recovery.
William Strier[edit]
William Strier, who lived in Thousand Oaks, California, had a history of violence. In 1969, Strier was arrested after shooting a neighbor four times. However, because Strier claimed to have a psychiatric condition, his sentence was reduced.
In 2005, a jury convicted Strier of attempted first-degree murder. On March 17, 2006, Judge Rand Rubin sentenced Strier to life in prison, plus twenty-five years. In addition, Strier was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $3,000 in restitution to Curry. Strier died in prison in 2007.
References[edit]
- rapp.org: Van Nuys Courthouse Shooting
- da.co.la.ca.us: 2006 archive
- CBS News: Early Show (1.23.2006)
- youtube: Fox News video of the shooting
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