LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Four people were arrested after a fight broke out Thursday in a Louisville courtroom.
According to Col. Carl Yates, with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, two women, a man, and another person were arrested after an argument led to a fight during a preliminary hearing for a murder case.
Video from inside the courtroom showed the moments when the fight broke out.
Before the hearing for murder suspect Jalen Forrest began, Jefferson District Judge Yvette de la Guardia instructed the crowd to stay calm.
"I'm not gonna allow any outbursts or discussions or conversing amongst anybody in the courtroom," Judge de la Guardia said.
As Louisville Metro Police Detective William Burns began answering the first question, a woman said something the judge deemed disrespectful.
"Hold on," Judge de la Guardia said. "Excuse me. Please don't let that happen again."
After the woman shouted curses, she was dismissed from the courtroom. But the interruption didn't end there. More people in the gallery began to curse and shout.
"Can we clear the courtroom please?" an attorney asked.
Forrest was escorted out as deputies forced people to leave the room.
"Get out!" the judge shouted.
"I know this is hard," she told someone else in the gallery. "Step outside, or I'm going to hold you all in contempt. Go!"
More than a minute passes and screams can still be heard coming from outside as sheriff's deputies scramble in the hall outside the courtroom.
Yates said those arguing were taken outside the courtroom. One woman threw a chair at a sheriff's deputy, while another lunged at a sheriff's deputy, he said.
At least one deputy pepper-sprayed both women in the hallway outside the courtroom, according to Yates.
"We felt like that was the easiest way to stop the situation," Yates said. "We had people who were becoming very hostile toward the deputies and toward each other."
Yates said the brawl ended with four arrests, each charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
The hearing did eventually continue. It was for Jalen Forrest, 30, who was arrested and charged with murder on Sept. 19 after police said he beat his stepfather to death.
Louisville Metro Police were called to an apartment in the 4500 block of Broadleaf Drive, near the intersection of Shanks Lane and Cane Run Road in the city's St. Denis neighborhood, shortly before 4 p.m. Sept. 18.
When they arrived on scene, police found Forrest alone in the apartment with the victim, his stepfather, who was suffering from multiple injuries. The victim, identified as Victor Anderson Sr., 59, was pronounced dead. Court documents indicated he suffered "fractured ribs, broken jaw and manual strangulation."
Forrest was returned to jail with a $250,000 bond.
During the video, you could hear a woman off-camera say toward Forrest, "Don't worry. I got somebody on the inside."
Forrest's attorney brought that up, and the judge acknowledged the statement toward Forrest as a threat.
The Sheriff's Office is in charge of courtroom security. After three outbursts in a short period of time last year, Yates says they looked for better security solutions to make up for a deputy shortage.
He says they're hired court security officers who can assist if things get out of hand, just as they did Thursday. Yates added that there will be more deputies present at Forrest's next hearing.
The four people arrested were Chanua Shackelford, Adrian Shackelford, Constance Russell, and Tekeya Anderson. They are scheduled for arraignment on October 3.
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- Man arrested for beating stepfather to death in Louisville's St. Denis neighborhood
- Louisville man identified as victim of St. Denis neighborhood homicide
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