How Did Berrien County Shooter Get His Hands On A Gun?

ST. JOSEPH (WWJ) Inmate Larry Gordon, 45, somehow got his hands on a gun as he was being transported by bailiffs within the Berrien County courthouse and that's when it happened.

Police say he shot dead two bailiffs and injured two other people. There was concern that Gordon was still at large until one officer told dispatchers the suspect was down, and the weapon was secured.

The shooter was dead.

WSJM radio reporter Michael Arney in St. Joseph is asking the question that's on many minds this morning: How did he grab a gun while he was being transported from lockup to courtroom?

Arney first reported to WWJ's Charlie Langton that Gordon wasn't handcuffed; that information was later revealed to be untrue.

"It just seems to me common sense that if you have somebody in court on a felony domestic violence charge you might want to have them in handcuffs," Arney in St. Joseph, Mich., told Langton.

A press conference at 7:15 a.m. Monday by Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey dispelled the notion that Gordon was not handcuffed, saying his hands were cuffed in front of him when he somehow managed to grab a weapon. But Bailey has not yet detailed exactly how it happened that the suspect was able to grab a gun.

Gordon had no history of violence while in jail and his ex-wife and mother of his daughter describes him as an "amazing man" who she said ended up in jail after falling in with the wrong crowd. He was facing multiple felony charges.

After taking the weapon from an officer, Gordon shot and killed two bailiffs — both of whom were retired police officers — and wounded a deputy and a citizen.

"After he exchanged gunfire, or shot, the deputy and shot and killed the two bailiffs he went into the court area and took several hostages for a short period of time until he tried to leave through another door," Bailey said. "That's when the other two bailiffs confronted him and that's when he was shot and killed."

Bailey said that Gordon shot and injured a deputy and a female civilian before he was killed by two other bailiffs.

Bailey identified the two bailiffs killed in the incident as Joe Zangaro and Ron Kienzle.

James Atterberry — the deputy who was injured in the incident — was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital and is in intensive care but "doing fine," according to Bailey. The identity of the injured citizen was not released.