Gov. Snyder joins local leaders in call for strength after courthouse shooting

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder joined local leaders in St. Joe Monday evening calling for strength after the Berrien County Courthouse shooting.

“I just wanted to be here to support a terrible day in a wonderful community,” Snyder said in a press conference Monday evening.

The governor arrived at the crime scene a few hours after the shooting, traveling from the middle of the state to join local leaders.

“I ask that all Michiganders put your prayers out, your thoughts and prayers, for the families of the lost law enforcement officials and that we give our thoughts and prayers to the wounded,” Snyder said.

His feelings were echoed by Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad, whose city is right down the road from the courthouse.

“We’re twin cities,” Muhammad said. “So we are joined together almost like Siamese twins, where we’re just connected, and what effects them affects us.”

Michiana is mourning the loss of two Berrien County Courthouse officers and praying for a sheriff’s deputy and a civilian wounded in Monday’s shooting.

“We often times, after situations like this, don’t seek help for trauma,” the president of the Benton Harbor chapter of the NAACP said. “There’s nothing wrong with seeking help for situations of trauma such as this; this is a traumatizing situation.”

Monday was a dark day in what is usually a bright city, but local leaders said this tragedy will not keep the community down.

“Together we can pull through it and hopefully come out stronger,” Muhammad said.