Austin, Texas, Judge Julie Kocurek was shot multiple times, by an unknown man, in front of her teenage son, in the driveway of their home. She shares her emotional story of survival and her work to stop others from being targeted in “48 Hours” Live to Tell: The Vendetta, airing Saturday, April 13 at 10/9c on CBS.
“We are never gonna be the same,” said Judge Julie Kocurek. “And we all feel that it never should have happened.”
November 6, 2015 started as a typical Texas Friday night for Kocurek and her son, Will.
“We always went to the football games Friday night,” said Will.
“And it was rainy so after halftime, we decided to — head home,” said Kocurek. “Will had his learner’s permit so he drove.”
“And as we’re pulling into the driveway I saw a leaf bag that was blocking the gate,” Will explained.
“And we — thought it was strange. I thought it was a prank. And so Will got out of the car,” said Kocurek.
Will noticed someone walking down the street.
“And then, all of the sudden, he just started running straight at me,” said Will. “And then he — pulled out a gun and started shootin’. … he shot four times through the … driver’s side window.”
“I scooted down as far as I could in the seat. And I protected my head with my arm and my hand,” said Kocurek. “And I thought — I can remember thinking, ‘I’m going to die in front of my own son.'”
911 OPERATOR: Travis County 911
WILL KOCUREK [crying] Help! Help! We just got shot at.
911 OPERATOR: Is anybody injured?
WILL KOCUREK: My mom is … please hurry, please hurry, this guy just went up to the car and shot my mom!
“And she told me she was OK, and that was a little shocking at first. And then once she looked up and I saw blood everywhere, I knew that she was not OK,” said Will.
The judge had been shot in her upper body with unusual bullets that come apart when they hit flesh. The bullets caused hundreds of gunshot fragments and wounds.
“Will said goodbye to me. I told him I loved him,” Kocurek recalled, “and we just waited for the police to come. It seemed like an eternity.”
“Once I heard the sirens coming, I ran down to the street,” said Will.
“Police arrive, and I told the one officer that I was a judge, and I felt like it was related to my work,” said Kocurek.
What Kocurek did not know was that a tip had come in to the District Attorney’s Office, saying that someone planned to shoot a judge – information that was not passed on.
“There were signs in my neighborhood, had I known, in addition, that this threat had come in, I would have completely changed what I was doing and my family,” she said.
The attempted murder changed not just the Kocurek family, but also the handling of security for all judges in Texas.
For more of the story, watch “48 Hours” Live to Tell: The Vendetta, airing Saturday, April 13 at 10/9c on CBS.
