Two bailiffs and a suspect are dead after a courthouse shooting in St. Joseph, Michigan, Berrien County sheriff’s Lt. Paul Bailey said. The inmate wrested a gun from one of the officers and opened fire, Bailey said. The courthouse will be closed on Tuesday while Michigan State Police investigate.
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The inmate made it into a public hallway, where he shot a civilian in the arm, Bailey said. The gunman was later killed as well.
The injuries suffered by the deputy and the civilian weren’t considered serious.
Several other wounded are in stable condition at Lakeland Regional Hospital, Bailey said.
Stay with KWWL as this story develops.
Officers are comforted outside of the Berrien County Courthouse after two bailiffs were fatally shot by an inmate on July 11, 2016.
The inmate disarmed one of the officers, Bailey said.
Jessica Gordon tells WOOD-TV that her ex-husband, Larry Darnell Gordon, was “an awesome man that got mixed up with the wrong people”.
Two other bailiffs confronted him and Gordon was shot and killed. He had apparently never shown any inclination toward violence and that’s why he was not cuffed as they were preparing to transfer him from the holding cell at the courthouse to a courtroom.
St. Joseph is located in far southwestern Michigan’s Berrien County, which borders Indiana.
Gordon, 45, of Coloma was being held on several felony charges, Bailey said. “I’ve grown to know a lot of these people here and especially the heart our sheriff has for the community, it’s just very sad”, she said.
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Gov. Rick Snyder cut short a visit to Midland and traveled across the state to St. Joseph to meet with investigators and victims’ families. Leroy Lane’s wife works at the courthouse and was inside at the time of the shooting. “We all need to reach out and be supportive of law enforcement in our state and across the country”, Snyder said in a tweet.
