Two bailiffs were fatally shot and one police officer was wounded inside a south-west Michigan courthouse on Monday, authorities said, after an inmate took a handgun from a deputy’s waistband and opened fire. The gunman was also killed.
The wounded police officer and a civilian also injured in the attack each sustained non-life-threatening injures and are currently in stable condition at a nearby hospital, confirmed Berrien County undersheriff Chuck Heit.
At a brief press conference on Monday, Berrien county sheriff Paul Bailey said the shooting began at about 2.25pm on the courthouse’s third floor. The inmate was being moved from a holding cell to a courtroom at the time.
“A person has shot two bailiffs, they are both deceased, and a deputy sheriff who is at the hospital right now being treated in the emergency room,” Bailey told reporters. The death of his friends, he added, was “terrible”.
The sheriff did not name the suspect, but he later identified him as a male inmate who was in custody for several charges. He added the suspect was inside the courthouse from the jail for “some court proceeding” and declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.
As the suspect was outside a holding cell, the bailiffs secured the door, Bailey said, and “then the inmate started fighting with the deputy and bailiff”.
“And that’s when the gun was able to be taken away,” he said. “He was trying to escape – that’s when he fatally wounded the two bailiffs.”
Police dispatch audio captured a frantic scene that followed, describing the gunman as having taken hostages before he was killed.
“We have him cornered on the second floor,” an officer said. “He has a gun with a hostage.”
The Michigan department of corrections has a probation office on the same floor of the courthouse where the shooting took place, said spokesperson Chris Gautz.
“We had a probation agent in the courtroom, and the gunman ran past her out of the courtroom with a gun,” he said. The probation office is on lockdown, he added, but none of its employees were injured in the shooting.
Bailey said the deceased were retired cops and had been bailiffs for a decade, Bailey said.
“Our hearts are torn apart,” he said. “They were our friends. They were my colleagues. I’ve known them for over 30 years. So, it’s a sad day.”
The victims’ names will be released “later tonight”, he continued, once next of kin had been notified. A press conference is scheduled for later this evening.
The Berrien County courthouse is in the city of St Joseph, about three hours west of Detroit. When the crime scene is processed, the victims’ bodies will be removed to the nearby city of Grand Rapids for an autopsy, Bailey said. Grief counselors will be available for court employees, the sheriff said.
“Please join me in praying for those affected,” Michigan governor Rick Snyder said.
Michigan state police deferred requests for comment to the Berrien county sheriff’s office. The Michigan state police spokeswoman, Shanon Banner, deferred additional comment to the Berrien county sheriff’s office.
The investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Berrien County sheriff’s office, Michigan state police, St Joseph city department of public safety and the FBI.
The shooting took place about 50 miles west of Kalamazoo, where an Uber driver killed six people during a seemingly random shooting spree in February. Last month, in a township near Kalamazoo, a truck driver crashed into a group of cyclists, killing five and injuring four others.
The Berrien county courthouse will be closed on Tuesday.
