Metal Detector to Be Moved to Courthouse’s 1st-Floor Lobby

A metal detector will be installed next week in the first-floor lobby of Van Nuys Courthouse in the wake of Wednesday’s courtroom shoot-out that left a gunman dead and a bailiff wounded.

As early as Tuesday, the metal detector will be used to screen attorneys, litigants and members of the public entering the elevators that lead to all courtrooms in the seven-story building, said S. S. Schwartz, Van Nuys Superior Court supervising judge.

“We’re doing it on our own now,” Schwartz said after meeting with several Superior Court judges in his chambers. “We’re not going to wait until there’s a death.”

The metal detector, which has been used in a trial court, will be moved to the lobby and operated by private security guards already employed there, Schwartz said.

Wednesday’s shooting occurred in a temporary courtroom bungalow next to the courthouse. Jeremey A. Sigmond, 35, convicted the day before of misdemeanor charges, including carrying a concealed weapon, forced the prosecutor in the case, Deputy City Atty. Jessica P. Silvers, into the court at gunpoint.

Sigmond was killed by an exchange of gunfire moments later with Los Angeles County Deputy Marshal Cliff Wofford, 30, of Palmdale. Wofford, who was shot in the abdomen, was in good condition and recovering Friday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, a hospital spokeswoman said. Silvers escaped injury.

In a separate meeting Friday, Van Nuys municipal judges proposed providing hand-held metal detectors for the 13 temporary courtrooms outside the main court building. They also proposed giving all Van Nuys Municipal Court bailiffs lightweight bulletproof vests, automatic weapons and hand-held radios.

Those ideas and other undisclosed plans will be presented to the County Board of Supervisors, said Aviva K. Bobb, Van Nuys Municipal Court supervising judge.

A new, 10-story municipal courthouse next to the existing court complex is expected to open this summer. It is designed for easy use of metal detectors at all entrances, although the metal detectors have not yet been approved by the supervisors.

Judges recommended that marshals carry automatic weapons because they are more effective than the six-shot, .38-caliber revolvers now issued by the county. In a fierce gun battle, an automatic weapon is “a step up” because it carries more ammunition and can be reloaded more quickly, said Lt. Art Valenzuela of the marshal’s office.

Bulletproof Vest Worn

Wofford was armed with his own weapon, a 9-millimeter, 14-shot automatic pistol, when he entered the courtroom Wednesday. “It made a considerable difference,” especially considering that Sigmond was wearing a bulletproof vest, Valenzuela said.

Wofford fired nearly a full clip of ammunition in the shoot-out, he said.

Valenzuela also said that deputy marshals are issued bulletproof vests, but could use an improved, lighter model.

Also Friday, Supervisor Mike Antonovich announced at a press conference that he will ask the board to form a committee to study ways to improve courtroom security.

At the same news conference, South Bay Municipal Judge Benjamin Aranda, chairman of the county’s Municipal Court Judges Assn., proposed that metal detectors and other security measures be paid for with state funds available under the Trial Court Funding Act of 1985.

Under that act, the county’s courts are eligible for $120 million if the county agrees to contribute part of its fines, fees and forfeitures to the state.

But the amount of those funds available for courtroom security probably would be limited, said a Board of Supervisors staff member, who asked not to be identified. “I would suspect that there are a lot of competing interests,” he said. “Security is not the only issue.”