Pinellas bailiffs who killed courthouse gunman honored today

The two bailiffs who shot and killed a gunman at the downtown St. Petersburg courthouse last year are being named Pinellas sheriff's deputies of the year today.

On May 7, bailiffs B.J. Lyons and Marvin Glover shot and killed Glen Powell after Powell pulled a gun and tried to shoot his way past a security checkpoint.

Powell's wife of six years, Vivian, had filed for divorce. Powell had until May 7 to respond to the petition, and there was talk between him and his mother that they should drop if off together at the courthouse, where the divorce filing eventually would be assigned to a judge.

Powell wanted to go alone.

Shortly after 1 p.m. that day, he walked toward the courthouse entrance. Outside, he asked for directions to where he should go to file papers. A woman told him to go in the main entrance. Then she saw the butt of a gun protruding from Powell's backpack.

He also wore a fanny pack. In it authorities later would find 61 rounds, a clip containing 10 more rounds for his .45-caliber P220 Sig Sauer pistol and a device to quickly reload empty clips.

In the backpack, reports said, were a gas mask with filters, a tinted insert and a pair of prescription glasses attached to the mask. Powell wore eyeglasses. There was also an 18-inch, curved Khukuri knife with a sheath.

After Powell came to the courthouse's security checkpoint, Glover told him to put his bags on a conveyor belt so they could be scanned by an X-ray machine. Powell ignored him, making his way quickly toward a walk-through metal detector.

Lyons saw him pull the Sig Sauer from his right side and yelled, "Gun!" He said he pulled his department firearm and fired.

Powell fired, too, striking Lyons' radio microphone and causing a minor abrasion. Glover also fired.

The report said Powell was struck six times: once each in the heart, liver, abdomen, lower back and twice in the groin. The wounds to the heart and liver alone were enough to kill him, the prosecutor's ruling said.

Lyons and Glover fired 11 times; Powell twice.

Lyons felt Powell's bullet hit his shoulder but knew Powell was still on his feet. Glover said he quickly thought he didn't want Lyons in his line of fire before he began shooting.

Lyons and Glover are Pinellas County sheriff's deputies who work as bailiffs. Sheriff Jim Coats will present them with their awards.

The ceremony will take place at the Seminole Recreation Auditorium, 9100 113th St., Seminole, at 1 p.m.

Coats will also recognize detention deputies Ralph Lutz and David Harvey, who, while off duty, disarmed a man with a loaded shotgun who was involved in a domestic incident, the sheriff's office said.

Coats will also recognize Tracy Erwin as forensic science specialist of the year. She worked on, among other things, the case of Rosemary Christensen, whose remains were found in another part of the state.