BERRIEN COUNTY COURT UPDATES

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

ST. JOSEPH – News came last week on a number of fronts related to the July courthouse shooting that left two bailiffs and an assailant dead. That incident made national news and brought courthouse security concerns to the forefront locally and regionally.
Veteran court bailiffs Joseph Zangaro, 61, and Ronald Kienzle, 63, were killed July 11 by Coloma resident Larry Gordon, 45. Gordon, was in custody on several felony charges, also shot and injured Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputy James Atterberry, Jr., 41, an 18 year veteran of the sheriff’s department.
Last week, Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic issued a press release clearing other county bailiffs of any wrongdoing in the death of Gordon and stating that no criminal charges would result from their actions.
Sepic’s press release announced his office’s analysis of the cause of death and criminal responsibility in Gordon’s death. Interviews were conducted with witnesses to Gordon’s shooting, courthouse visitors and courthouse employees. Other reports, photographs, video and a letter written by Gordon were also analyzed.
The initial shooting of the deputy and two bailiffs took place around a courtroom on the third floor of the courthouse. Gordon seized Atterberry’s holstered .357 revolver, wounded the deputy and then shot and killed Kienzle and Zangaro.
Gordon was in court that day on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge and was awaiting trial on additional, more serious charges stemming from an incident earlier in the spring at Gordon’s Coloma area home.
The press release gave more details about what happened that day, reporting that Gordon shot twice at the glass separation window at the civil file room and then ran down the civil hallway to the public corridor. He pushed past a bailiff who had responded to the incident, pointed a gun at him and then ran through the public corridor.
Two other bailiffs arrived on the scene and heard the first bailiff say that Gordon had a gun and Gordon say he had hostages. Gordon ordered a hostage break a glass partition which sounded like gunshots to spectators. The second and third bailiffs shot several times when they had a clear shot and killed Gordon.
Atterberry ended up with non-life threatening injuries while the hostage was injured by one of the bullets fired by the second and third bailiffs. Gordon ended up with two gunshot wounds to his chest.
The report noted that Gordon had shot all six bullets that had been in Atterberry’s revolver, a fact that the second and third bailiffs responding to the incident could not have known. They also could not have known whether or not Gordon had any additional firearms.
Sepic’s press release concluded that a police officer has the same justification for using deadly force as a member of the public does when confronted with a person presenting a danger to himself and others or is a fleeing felon posing a risk the public at large.
Statements taken later from inmates indicated that Gordon said he would not be able to do a lengthy prison sentence and that he had inquired about courthouse layouts and exits. While Gordon talked to other inmates about escaping, the prosecutor’s office concluded there is no evidence he received encouragement or aid from others.
Gordon also gave a letter to another inmate the morning of July 11, but that letter was not opened or forwarded to any jail personnel until after the incident. The press release concluded that there was no “affirmative duty” by other inmates to report Gordon’s talk of escape.
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In other news connected to the July 11 incident, the probation program coordinator in court that day has been arraigned on felony charges stemming from her relationship with a probationer.
Jessica Holmes, 35, of Eau Claire, has been been arraigned on felony charges of delivery of a controlled substance, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of justice. She will next be in court later this month for a preliminary hearing.
Holmes is a county employee who had recently been promoted to be the Swift & Sure Program Coordinator. She is a 16 year employee of the court and was managing Swift & Sure probationers. Swift & Sure Probation is a program in which defendants convicted of felonies are placed on probation to give them a second chance to succeed.
In this case, it is alleged that Holmes developed a relationship with a Swift and Sure probationer after the Berrien County courthouse shooting of July 11. She and the probationer were in the courtroom that day when the shooting incident started.
The charges stem from the following allegations: that she delivered a drug, Norco (a schedule II controlled substance), to him to sell on her behalf and that she had a sexual relationship with him prohibited due to her employment with the county while he was a probationer.
The obstruction of justice charge stems from the allegation that she provided him with confidential scheduling information by which he was to be drug and alcohol tested for the Swift and Sure program.
The delivery of a controlled substance charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while the other two charges carry maximum penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
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The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department’s Victim Services Unit has been named the Victim Services Unit of the Year by the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association. That award is presented annually to a victim services unit that has provided exemplary service to victims in their community.
The Berrien County Victim Services Unit has been in operation for seven years and responded to 58 calls for service this past year, assisting 686 victims including members of their own department at the time of the July 11 shooting.
Volunteers from the victim services unit distributed bottled water, hugs and listening ears for deputies and courthouse employees.
Statewide, victim services units perform a number of services including accompanying deputies when making death notifications, helping in search and rescue efforts and assist in natural and manmade disasters.
The Michigan Sheriffs’ Association was founded in 1877 and is the state’s oldest law enforcement organization.
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