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Inmate Kills Two Bailiffs at Berrien County Court

Update: The Berrien County Sheriff now says that the prisoner who shot and killed two bailiffs on Monday was wearing handcuffs at the time.  (Story from the Kalamazoo Gazette)

A man who shot and killed two court officers in Berrien County on Monday also tried to take hostages before he was killed and was likely not wearing handcuffs as he was moved through the courthouse, the Berrien County sheriff says.

Forty-five-year-old Larry Darnell Gordon, from Coloma, was on his way to a court date when he attacked the officers guarding him. Gordon got one officer’s gun away from him, shot and injured a sheriff’s deputy and shot and killed two bailiffs.

http://youtu.be/pWFYT9VfbkY

Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey says Gordon briefly attempted to hold several people hostage and then tried to flee.

“He tried to leave through another door and that’s when the other two bailiffs confronted him and that’s when he was shot and killed,” Bailey told reporters Monday.

One civilian was injured in the incident.

Bailey says while his office is still investigating, it’s entirely possible that Gordon was not wearing handcuffs.

“We had no information that he was going to be violent and not everyone that goes into the courtroom is handcuffed,” he said.

Bailey says Berrien County will review its policy for moving inmates through court.

The courthouse will be closed on Tuesday as a result of the incident. Governor Rick Snyder attended a press conference on the shootings Monday night. 

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.