MORAGA -- Police patrolled the East Bay community of Moraga early Wednesday, alerted that a Reno pawn shop owner charged with murdering his estranged wife and wanted for questioning in the sniper shooting of a judge had contacted a cousin living in the city.

Sgt. Robert Priebe said his agency had been contacted overnight by Reno police and asked to check the residence of Jeff Donner to see if there was any evidence that Darren Roy Mack may have been there. Word of the Moraga alert was broadcast on the morning news and Donner came into the police station on his own and called the Reno authorities.

"Mr. Donner is asking all media to let Mack know that he will assist Mack in his peaceful surrender to law enforcement," Priebe said. "There was phone contact from Mack to Donner after the reported time of the shooting of a judge in Reno."

Priebe said there was no other evidence that Mack was in the Bay Area.

In an interview with KTVU Wednesday afternoon, Donner characterized his cousin as a non-violent man.

"If he's done what the news media says, is is absolutely and totally out of character," he said. "It is a man who has snapped."

Donner said his cousin had shared him frustration with Family Court Judge Chuck Weller -- who was overseeing Mack's divorce proceedings.

"He was very put out by the judge," Donner said. "He said the judge was biased, very prejudiced and very unfair….He felt the judge didn't give him a chance to present his case."

Moraga police said Reno authorities had alerted them late Tuesday night to the possibility Mack had fled to the Bay Area. The wanted man -- who also a student pilot's license -- apparently used his corporate credit card to exit a parking garage at the Sacramento airport.

"We were told to be on the lookout for Darren Mack and his vehicle -- we have a vehicle description," said Moraga police Sgt. Jeff Price. "We've been cruising the roads of Moraga all night as have other East Bay agencies looking for that car… The CHP is looking on Highway 80 and other areas."

Reno police launched a two-state manhunt for Mack after Weller was shot Monday in the chest by a sniper through the window of his third floor office in the Washoe County courthouse complex.

Weller, 53, who in past years gave legal advice on a local radio station and in a column in the Reno Gazette-Journal, was rushed to a hospital where he was reported in good condition.

Police shut down a six-block area near the downtown casino district and SWAT teams searched parking garages, high-rise construction sites and a neighboring movie theater.

Flights were suspended for about an hour at Reno-Tahoe International Airport late Monday night and some planes were searched after a police SWAT team responded to a reported sighting of Mack's sports utility vehicle at an airport parking garage, but it turned out to be a false alarm, authorities said.

"The lead was strong enough that police responded with a large group of officers," airport spokesman Brian Kulpin told The Associated Press. "The entire airport was searched and will continue to be searched. We're in a hyper state of vigilance."

Mack, 45, is wanted for the killing of his estranged wife, Charla Mack, 39, whose body was found in the garage of her apartment, and he is a "person of interest" in the shooting at the courthouse, Reno Deputy Police Chief Jim Johns said Tuesday.

The killing at the apartment and the courthouse shooting apparently happened within hours of each other, although Johns said it was unknown which occurred first.

Darren Mack "had recent dealings with the judge and the family court section" in his divorce, Johns said, calling it "an obvious connection." But he said police "do not have enough information to say he is a suspect" in Weller's shooting.

According to Washoe County District Court records, Charla Mack filed for divorce on Feb. 7, 2005. A two-day custody hearing was scheduled before Weller for Sept. 7 of this year and a mutual restraining order was signed in May 2005, according to court records.

An attorney who has been involved in Mack's divorce case, who asked not to be named because of personal safety concerns, told AP that the couple's divorce proceeding was "a very, very heated and emotional case."

Weller was shot in the chest "at least once" by a "high velocity projectile, possibly a rifle," Johns said. His condition had improved Tuesday and he was in good spirits, the chief said.

Weller's administrative assistant, Annie Allison, was hit by bullet fragments in her arm and hip, but her wounds were superficial, and she was treated and released, police spokesman Steve Frady said.

Mack is the owner of a Reno jewelry store and pawn shop within a few blocks from the courthouse. Mack's photograph, along with his wife and three children, appears on a Web site advertising the sale of diamonds and other jewelry.

On the Web site, he wrote: "My name is Darren Mack, and I am the third generation owner of a small business in Reno, Nevada. My family has owned and operated small businesses in Nevada for 45 years."

Johns said the children were unharmed.

Weller, a lawyer who graduated from Georgetown University Law School in 1977, was elected to the bench in 2004. "He's a nice guy and real hardworking," said Reno Justice of the Peace Harold Albright.

Court officials said the shooting could be the result of someone unhappy with a ruling in a child custody case, and a survey of Internet Web sites shows many postings by people unhappy with Weller and his family court decisions.

"The incident is shocking, but the risk is not shocking," said Darin Conforti, court administrator of Reno Justice Court. "We're well aware this is the inherent risk of trying to solve conflicts. Sometimes you don't solve them peacefully and people take the law into their own hands."