2 bailiffs, gunman dead after Michigan courthouse shooting

The Berrien County Courthouse.
(Image credit: Twitter.com/KateWWMT)

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.

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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

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.