you sound like a colleague
... The judge was right because the shooting took place from the ground, so the offense occurred on the ground, and that's state jurisdiction. There were quite a few cases years back when people would point lasers at airliners and helicopters form the ground, and not sure where most of them were handled, but the one I participated (not as a defendant
) in was in state criminal court. Same scenario here, the offense, though directed at federal airspace, occurred on the ground.