Gordon acted out when he was being transported by Deputy James Atterberry Jr. from the courtroom to a holding cell.
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The two bailiffs who were left dead in the wake of the attack have been identified as 61 year old Joseph Zangaro and 63 year old Ron Kienzle. Gordon made it to a third floor hallway where he shot a woman identified by family members as Kenya Ellis. Her name and condition weren’t immediately provided.
The inmate shot a sheriff’s deputy, killed the bailiffs and then shot a civilian in the arm in a public area, the sheriff said.
(Newswire.net – July 12, 2016) -The latest in a series of shootings, took place Monday afternoon, when an inmate, who was on his way from the courthouse to jail, grabbed a gun off a deputy and opened fire, as he tried to flee.
“He’s not a monster”, Jessica Gordon, told the Free Press.
Sheriff Paul Bailey says he had wrong information Monday when he said the inmate, Larry Darnell Gordon, was not handcuffed. This tragic event reminds us all too well that our law enforcement officers have their lives on the line every day not knowing what that day will bring. Safety is an utmost.
Bailey says a deputy who was injured in the shooting is “doing fine” in intensive care after surgery.
Fowler said the last time he recalled a law enforcement officer being killed in the line of duty in Berrien County was in 1984 when Michigan State Trooper Robert Mihalik was killed during a traffic stop in Shoreham, just south of St. Joseph. Crime scene techs later told him that the suspect was in fact handcuffed in the front.
Both spent years of service in the law enforcement community, said Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey during a news conference Monday evening.
A shooting has been reported inside the Berrien County Courthouse in southwestern MI, according to WZZM.
“We’re going to look at everything about why this happened and make sure that if there are things we can change so this never happens again, we will”, Bailey said.
“As we talk about being divided, we’re not divided. America will always stand strong”, Bailey said.
Joseph Zangaro rose through the ranks of the Michigan State Police to become a lieutenant and the head of the Bridgman post until his retirement a few years ago.
In 2005, Georgia rape defendant Brian Nichols seized an officer’s gun and killed a judge, a court reporter and a sheriff’s deputy inside the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta.
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The wounded deputy was taken to nearby Lakeland Regional Hospital and treated in the emergency room, Bailey said. People from the neighborhood gathered outside the perimeter of the building, which sits atop a ridge overlooking Lake Michigan in the heart of downtown St. Joseph.
