George Geiger

George Geiger, 31, court reporter, rescued Mark E. Garber, Sr., 58, judge, from a homicidal attack, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1955 . At the conclusion of a non-support case being heard in the Cumberland County Courthouse, the man involved in the suit took out a revolver and fired three times in rapid succession, the bullets striking his wife and two lawyers, one of whom was wounded fatally. With five cartridges still in the gun he moved toward the dais on which judge Garber was seated and pointed the gun toward him. As Geiger moved 10 feet to him, the man fired again and wounded judge Garber in the arm. Geiger grasped the man’s hand which still held the gun, pinned it under his armpit, and then held the man’s arm with both hands. As the man struggled to free himself, Geiger tripped and fell, sustaining a minor head injury, but regained his footing without releasing his hold. The man’s son and daughter, who were attending the hearing, came to Geiger’s aid and sought to restrain their father, who dropped the revolver. Geiger retrieved the gun and with it held the man under guard until a policeman arrived. At some time during the struggle the revolver had been fired again, the bullet striking the jury box railing. Judge Garber was hospitalized four weeks, regaining only limited use of his arm. The assailant subsequently was tried for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.