The 13 Watchdog team is uncovering troublesome ties between the Berrien County Courthouse shooter and a nearby elementary school. It has been confirmed that Larry Gordon was a classroom volunteer at South Elementary in Watervliet for over a year, despite a long criminal record. “We do background checks, unfortunately the background check I saw I didn’t see any violent crimes,” said Kevin Schooley, superintendent of the Watervliet Public Schools. The Watchdog team learned Gordon had a criminal history dating back to the 90’s, including two federal convictions for possession of a pipe bomb and a felony larceny conviction in 2013. The school never checked Gordon’s record for federal crimes. The principal says that’s because employees get fingerprinted, but not volunteers. Schooley says he’s focused on making improvements to school safety.

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