Michigan Courthouse Shooter Kidnapped, Raped, Gave Teen Meth: Prosecutor

St. Joseph, MI — Larry Darnell Gordon, who wrested a gun from a sheriff’s deputy and fatally shot two bailiffs escorting him from a hearing at the Berrien County Courthouse Monday, was in jail on allegations that he imprisoned a 17-year-old girl for two weeks, gave her meth and raped her before his April arrest, according to media reports.

Jessica Gordon described her ex-husband as nonviolent but scared that he would go to prison for life and never again see his daughter, who turns 7 Saturday.

But details of Gordon’s arrest released Wednesday by Berrien Michael Sepic paint a far different picture of Gordon, who somehow managed to get the deputy’s gun while in handcuffs, kill the bailiffs and shoot two other people before he was shot and killed.

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When authorities served a misdemeanor domestic violence warrant at Gordon’s Coloma Township home on April 20, they noticed a light in the shed. Gordon barricaded himself inside the shed, and after police chased him out, they discovered the teen.

“He gave her methamphetamine in exchange for sex, forced some penetrations, and assaulted her with weapons, and assault by strangulation. He also video recorded the sexual activity,” Sepic said in a statement.

The 2006 incident also allegedly occurred at the home Gordon had shared with his ex-wife. The two divorced in February, but Jessica Gordon told the Detroit Free Press that the divorce decree was “only a piece of paper” and that she still loved and “will always love him.”

The felony charges against Gordon included:

• Five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, punishable by up to life in prison.
• One count of kidnapping, punishable by up to life in prison;
• Three counts of production of child sexually abusive material, punishable by up to 20 years in prison;
• Possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, punishable by up to 20 years in prison;
• One count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, punishable by up to 15 years in prison;
• One count of unlawful imprisonment, punishable by up to 15 years in prison;
• Two counts of assault by strangulation, punishable by up to 10 years in prison;
• One count of assault with a dangerous weapon, punishable by up to 4 years in prison.

Gordon also faced misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and malicious destruction of a building, and he could have received an enhanced sentence as a fourth-time habitual offender.

Gordon had a lengthy rap sheet that included federal convictions in both 1992 and 1998 for possession of a pipe bomb and a federal conviction in 2002 for felon in possession of a firearm. He also was convicted of third-degree fleeing and eluding in Barry County in 1998 and a 2013 Berrien County conviction on a charge of larceny in a building

Image: Michigan Department of Corrections