2 bailiffs, gunman dead after Michigan courthouse shooting

Two court bailiffs were shot and killed Monday afternoon by an inmate being transferred from a cell at the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan, authorities said.

Sheriff Paul Bailey announced during a news conference a "fight occurred with that inmate on the way to the courtroom," and the inmate was able to disarm an officer and start shooting in the courthouse's corridor. Other officers returned fire, and the unidentified inmate, in custody for "several charges," was shot and killed. A sheriff's deputy was shot and is in stable condition at a local hospital, Bailey said, and a civilian was also shot in the arm.

The bailiffs were both retired police officers, described by Berrien County Commissioner Mac Elliott as "professional, always courteous, just great people."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.