Murder Suspect Slain Trying to Flee Trial

A defendant who had just been found guilty of murder shot and wounded a bailiff with his own gun in an attempt to escape from a Milwaukee courtroom, but was shot dead by a police detective in front of horrified jurors and witnesses, authorities said Wednesday.

The shooting erupted in the third-floor Milwaukee County courtroom after Laron Ball, 20, jumped onto the jury box toward a window. Two bailiffs tried to subdue him. Ball bit one bailiff on the arm and grabbed the other’s holstered pistol, which discharged, wounding the deputy in the abdomen.

Det. Alfonso Morales, who had testified in the case and was sitting in the courtroom, leaped onto the prosecution table and shot Ball.

The bailiff who was bitten by Ball was treated and released at a hospital.

The one with the gunshot wound was hospitalized in satisfactory condition.

Extra security had been assigned to Ball at the trial because of tips that he might pose a threat, police sources said. However, he was not handcuffed or shackled in the courtroom.

“I don’t know why the decision was or was not made to not staff with more deputies than we had. But no matter how many we had, it wouldn’t have been enough to stop Laron Ball,” Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke told reporters.

Ball was convicted of a slaying during a robbery last December.