WASHINGTON — Two bailiffs were killed and a deputy sheriff wounded in shootings Monday at a courthouse in Berrien County, Michigan, when an inmate being transferred from a cell grabbed a gun and opened fire, authorities said.
The gunman was shot and killed by other bailiffs, but only after he had shot four people, two of them fatally, Sheriff L. Paul Bailey said Monday. The inmate also shot a civilian in the arm.
Bailey said investigators were still piecing together the details late Monday, but he said the shootings happened after ‘‘a fight occurred with that inmate on the way to the courtroom.’’
After this fight, the inmate was able to disarm one of the officers and use that gun to begin shooting in a corridor, Bailey said. The inmate was in custody on ‘‘several charges.’’
The attacker ‘‘was taken down by two other bailiffs’’ who shot and killed him, Bailey said.
‘‘Our hearts are torn apart,’’ Bailey said. ‘‘They were our friends. They were my colleagues. I’ve known them for over 30 years.’’
Bailey said the disturbance broke out on the courthouse’s third floor shortly before 2:30 p.m. Chuck Heit, the Berrien County undersheriff, said both bailiffs were armed.
Their deaths occurred days after a gunman killed five officers in Dallas, but there was no indication the Michigan attack was related to national protests over police tactics.
In other developments Monday involving police-related violence nationwide:
¦ Criticism mounted over how Baton Rouge, La., police dealt with throngs of protesters during the weekend, including nearly 200 demonstrators who were arrested and may face criminal charges, the Associated Press reported.
Protests have been growing around the country as people express outrage over the recent deaths of two black men at the hands of police in Louisiana and in Minnesota.
East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar C. Moore III said his office had not made any decisions on charges against the protesters.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said Monday that Baton Rouge police ‘‘used violent, militarized tactics on groups of people who have gathered peacefully.’’
On Sunday, Amnesty International questioned the high number of arrests and whether it was a ‘‘proportionate response to peaceful protests.’’
¦ The St. Paul city attorney said Monday that he is charging 46 people arrested in a Saturday protest on Interstate 94 over the death of Philando Castile, who was shot by a police officer, the AP reported.
City Attorney Samuel Clark said he has decided to charge the people, arrested by the State Patrol, with third-degree riot, a gross misdemeanor. Bail was set at $1,500.
Those facing charges could make their first court appearances Tuesday.
Clark said the protesters endangered others when they walked onto the interstate and ignored officers’ commands to leave.
¦ In Baltimore, a judge dropped an assault charge against a city police officer charged in the death of a black man injured in a police transport van.
Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams dismissed the second-degree assault charge against Lieutenant Brian Rice, the fourth of six officers — three black, three white — to be tried in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray.
After three trials, Williams has yet to rule that any of the officers committed crimes.
