ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — The Latest on a courthouse shooting in Berrien County, Michigan, that left three people dead (all times local):
9:15 a.m.
Records show a jail inmate who killed two bailiffs at a southwestern Michigan courthouse was locked up on major felony charges.
State police records say Larry Darnell Gordon was charged in April with criminal sexual conduct, assault with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping.
Authorities say the 44-year-old inmate overpowered a sheriff’s deputy at the Berrien County courthouse Monday, took his gun and killed two bailiffs. The deputy and a woman were injured.
Officers subsequently killed Gordon.
Sheriff Paul Bailey says Gordon’s hands were cuffed in front when he disarmed Deputy James Atterberry Jr. during a fight. Bailey says Gordon was always cooperative in jail.
The courthouse in St. Joseph, 100 miles northeast of Chicago, will reopen Wednesday.
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7:35 a.m.
A sheriff says a jail inmate’s hands were cuffed in front when he wrestled a gun from a deputy and killed two bailiffs at a courthouse in southwestern Michigan.
Sheriff Paul Bailey says he had wrong information Monday when he said the inmate, Larry Darnell Gordon, was not handcuffed.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Bailey says Gordon got into a fight with a deputy while being escorted to a courtroom from a holding cell.
Two bailiffs were killed and two people were injured before Gordon was killed by other officers.
The sheriff says an investigation will reveal more details about what happened. The deputy who was escorting Gordon is in a hospital with injuries that aren’t life-threatening.
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7:20 a.m.
One of the bailiffs killed in a courthouse shooting in southwestern Michigan had talked about the importance of security in a building where people are involved in “emotionally charged” cases.
In 2011, Joseph Zangaro talked to The Herald-Palladium newspaper about his work at the Berrien Countycourthouse in St. Joseph, about 100 miles northeast of Chicago.
He retired from the state police in 2003 then became a bailiff.
Zangaro said it was important for court security officers to be visible, especially to reassure employees. He said the security staff may have more experience than some police departments.
Zangaro and another bailiff were killed after a jail inmate got a gun and tried to escape from the courthouseMonday. The inmate, Larry Darnell Gordon, was killed by other officers.
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2:45 a.m.
A Michigan sheriff says all indications are that the inmate who fatally shot two bailiffs at a courthouse was trying to break out of custody.
Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey gave new details about the shooting at a press conference Monday evening.
Bailey says the 44-year-old suspect, Larry Darnell Gordon, was at the courthouse for a hearing on multiple felony charges.
The sheriff says authorities had “no warning signs” that the suspect would be violent.
Bailey says a deputy who was injured in the shooting is “doing fine” in intensive care after surgery. A woman was also injured. Her name and condition weren’t immediately provided.
During the incident, Bailey says Gordon took hostages for a short period of time before trying to leave through another door. He was killed by other officers.
