Police tape surrounds the Berrien County Courthouse on Monday, July 11, 2016 in St. Joseph, Mich. Two bailiffs were fatally shot Monday inside the courthouse before officers killed the gunman, a sheriff said.
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People scrambled for cover inside the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph, a city of about 8,300 people in the southwestern corner of MI, 100 miles northeast of Chicago.
Gordon, of Coloma, Michigan, was charged in April with armed first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree criminal sexual conduct during a felony, felony kidnapping, and other crimes, and could have faced a life sentence if he had been convicted, the Detroit Free Press reported, citing the Michigan State Police. She said they got divorced earlier this year, but he was very close to his 6-year-old daughter Cheyenne.
Jessica Gordon said she learned of her ex-husband’s death about 5:15 p.m. Monday when she was visited by a chaplain and police. However, the sheriff added that Gordon had never been combative while in custody before and described him as cooperative.
Bailey told reporters the shooter was an inmate who was being transferred from a holding cell to a courtroom when he disarmed one of the officers escorting him, killed two bailiffs, and wounded the deputy sheriff before escaping into a hallway and shooting a civilian in the arm. Zangaro, a retired Michigan State Police officer, was head of courthouse security and had worked there since 2004. “These were friends and colleagues that I’ve known for 30 years”.
Washington County Courthouse security received an upgrade in 2002 after court officials spoke out on the need for a stronger security system.
The deputy and a woman were injured.
Bailey said the sheriff’s deputy is in stable condition at Lakeland Regional Hospital.
According to Gov. Rick Snyder, Michigan State Police have secured the scene and started investigating.
“They don’t know what a hero my bailiff was”, he said. She said she worries that her son, a police officer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will be vulnerable following the shootings in St. Joseph and the events in Dallas. “So I ask that everyone reach out and try to be as supportive of law enforcement across the state and across the country as possible in a hard case like this”.
Amid a flurry of initial reports from the shooting, LaSata wanted to make sure that the heroism of many inside the courthouse didn’t go unnoticed. Together there is no tragedy too great that in the end we can triumph.
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Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey gave new details about the shooting at a press conference Monday evening.
