2024: The Most Viral Courtroom Moments and Police Encounters

Numerous police encounters and courtroom incidents occurred last year, including a suspect who attacked a judge and police officers who were attacked while responding to a 911 call.

Some of the most viral police encounters and courtroom moments of 2024 include:

Clark County, Nevada, inmate attacks judge in court

In early January, a defendant who had been denied bond attacked a Clark County, Nevada, judge and marshal, resulting in injuries, as shown in a video.

In a video obtained by Planet Chronicle Digital, Redden's lawyer requested probation for his client.

Holthus responded, "I believe it's time for him to experience something different."

Redden is seen flying in the air over the bench with his arms and legs outstretched, before landing on the judge.

The defendant, who grabbed the judge's hair, was wrestled off by her clerk and several court and jail officers, some of whom threw punches. Lasso sustained cuts on his hands, and a marshal was hospitalized with a dislocated shoulder and a gash on his forehead. Despite some injuries, Holthus returned to work the next day.

In September, Redden pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges, citing mental illness, after Hothus testified that she felt threatened when he jumped over her bench and landed on her.

In December, a judge ordered Redden to spend between 26 and 65 years in a Nevada prison for the attack.

Courtroom erupts in chaos as son bursts in, shoots dad's killer

The suspect in a murder trial in Brazil was shot and assaulted by a man who was attending the trial on behalf of the victim's father.

A video of the attack was recorded in the courtroom of São José do Belmonte, which shows Cristiano Alves Terto, 27, shooting Francisco Cleidivaldo Mariano de Moura, 38.

The attack on November 29, 2023, by Terto with a .38-caliber revolver was not clear. The video of the attack was only released by police on April 1, 2024.

Moura was chased across the courtroom by Terto, who continued his assault by striking the defendant in the head. The police, who were onsite, eventually arrested Terto on suspicion of attempted murder.

Jam Press reports that Moura survived the attack and was discharged after receiving treatment at a local hospital and then transferring to a larger facility.

Jurors help stop Maine man attempting to flee courthouse in handcuffs

A Maine man was convicted of assaulting a one-year-old and tried to escape from a courthouse while in handcuffs, but two jurors and a detective stopped him.

In September, a man named Nicholas Carter, 31, escaped from the courthouse in Skowhegan while being handcuffed.

At the Somerset County Superior Courthouse, Carter was convicted of aggravated assault against a one-year-old child, as reported by the Portland Press Herald following a three-day trial.

The outlet reports that Carter leaped over a bar with handcuffs on and escaped through the rear door of the second-floor courtroom, which is used by the public to enter and exit the gallery.

In the courthouse, Carter was seen running down a hallway while still in handcuffs, evading a lawyer who tried to prevent him from escaping.

He dashed out of the courthouse's main entrance while being chased by several individuals.

Video footage captures Carter sprinting across a parking lot and a street before stumbling and collapsing in a yard. Two jurors from his trial, who were present at the scene, restrained him until the detective arrived.

Carter was rearrested and is now being charged with escape in relation to the incident.

A Michigan judge was taken aback when a defendant with a suspended driver's license appeared in a Zoom hearing while driving.

In June, a judge revealed that a Michigan man who went viral for driving with a supposedly suspended driver's license during a virtual court hearing never had a license to begin with, adding a new twist to a story that has been met with laughter and surprise at every turn.

A video of Corey Harris's May 15 Zoom hearing, where he was seen driving despite his suspended license, went viral and led to his revocation of bail and order to turn himself in to authorities at a local jail.

An interview with WXYZ-TV revealed that Harris believed he had the legal right to drive and that an error had occurred.

During a subsequent hearing, Simpson stated that Harris never possessed a driver's license, according to Fox Detroit. The Michigan Department of State confirmed to Planet Chronicle Digital that Harris has never received a state driver's license.

Illinois suspect opens fire on deputies

In Dixon, Illinois, a confrontation at a home resulted in three first responders being shot, as dramatic body camera footage from Ogle County revealed.

According to officials, Jonathan Gounaris, a 32-year-old man, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and multiple weapons offenses after allegedly shooting at law enforcement when they entered his home.

On June 12, the Sheriff's Office in Ogle County, a rural community 100 miles west of Chicago, received a call from the owner of a home to check on an individual who had threatened suicide and homicide. The owner warned that her son was in possession of multiple firearms.

An emergency response team entered the home after hostage negotiators tried to contact the person over the phone more than 60 times.

Video footage reveals that the suspects were shot at as soon as they opened the doors. One of the deputies can be heard shouting "Shots fired!" in the video. Despite this, the deputies were able to subdue the suspects.

In the midst of gunfire, Tyler Carls of the Rochelle Fire Department, Tad Deminsky of the City of Oregon Police, and Jason Ketter of the Ogle County Sheriff's Office were all injured.

The body cam footage shows Emergency Response Team members attending to Ketter.

Gounaris, the suspect, was discovered with a gunshot wound to his stomach inside the home. He underwent surgery for his injury at a nearby hospital, according to authorities.

All three deputies who were shot have since been released from the hospital.

Gounaris was found with several firearms, a fixed-blade knife, pepper spray, and ballistic armor, according to police.

Fort Lauderdale police, gunman exchange fire in hotel

On the sixth floor of a Florida hotel, a police officer shouted, "I'm hit. I'm hit pretty good," as a barrage of gun blasts echoed.

At 7:39 a.m. on March 21, a hotel guest in Fort Lauderdale sent a "911 text" stating "Murder" without any context, but the caller did not respond to the police's attempts to contact them.

The Holiday Inn was cleared by 8:42 a.m., and responding officers, uncertain if anyone else was in the room, ordered the suspect to surrender with his hands up, as shown in newly released bodycam video.

As the door creaked open, the gunman began shooting at a group of police officers, who were confined to a small hotel room with no escape route.

The door slammed shut as the gunman, later identified as Karl Chludinsky, continued the gun battle from within.

Gunfire raged as Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Jack DiCristofalo was shot.

According to police, DiCristofalo was injured but his vest saved his life. He was treated at a hospital and released the same day.

Bodycam shows wild Houston gunfight as officers respond to active home invasion robbery

A mother and her children witnessed an ambush by a suspect with gunfire during a Houston police response to an active home invasion robbery.

According to authorities, three individuals were apprehended, including two gunmen who were captured on video entering the residence and their alleged accomplice who drove them away.

When officers entered the home and encountered the first suspect in the kitchen, a mother on the floor pleaded for help and warned them that "there's another."

Suddenly, a man emerged from a back doorway and began shooting.

After police say Raymond Perez, 35, began shooting, one of the officers sustained a gunshot wound to the leg.

Video footage reveals that Michael Perez, 38, was immediately handcuffed by an officer in the kitchen of a home on Alderney Drive after collapsing to the ground. The video also shows that Perez recovered a handgun during the arrest and stated that he had a knife.

Video footage shows that Raymond Perez escaped through the back door, but backup officers caught him a block away on the street.

Scott Durfee, the injured soldier, clings to his weapon and endures the agony on the ground, all while trying to safeguard a woman and her kids who were nearby during the shooting.

An eight-year veteran of the department, Durfee was handcuffed by his partner and then rushed to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. An ambulance arrived a few minutes later to transport him. He was treated and has since been released.

A third suspect, identified as Brian A. Garcia Chavez, 18, was arrested by police on Hollister Road.

This report was contributed to by Peter Aitken, Landon Mion, Louis Casiano, Chris Pandolfo, Chris Eberhart, and Michael Ruiz from Planet Chronicle Digital.