Police officers walk towards to the main entrance of Moscow Regional Court is seen in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017. Five defendants at the Moscow courthouse attacked their guards in a bungled... (Associated Press) 
 
 MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on the shooting at a courthouse in a Moscow suburb (all times local): 
 
 3:50 p.m. 
 
 Russian officials say three people have been killed and four injured in a shootout at a courthouse in a Moscow suburb. 
 
 Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's chief investigative body, said in a statement on Tuesday the incident took place when five handcuffed defendants tried to escape as they were escorted by two guards at the Moscow Regional Court. The body said one of the defendants tried to strangle one of the guards, and the defendants managed to escape and seized the guards' weapons. 
 
 A shootout with the court's guards ensued, and three of the defendants were killed. Two guards were injured. 
 
 Authorities said the incident took place before a hearing in a case of a gang of nine people who are suspected of killing more than a dozen of motorists. 
 
 Russia media dubbed the accused "the Grand Theft Auto gang" after the violent video game. The men on trial are accused of terrorizing Moscow motorists for months in 2014. Prosecutors said the gang members were placing spikes on roads, forcing the motorists out of their vehicles and shooting them dead. 
 
 The nine men, all from Central Asia, are charged with 17 murders and two attempted murders. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:30 p.m. 
 
 Russian news agencies are reporting that two people have been injured in a shooting inside a courthouse in a Moscow suburb. 
 
 The agencies on Tuesday quoted a lawyer who was at the courthouse and saw a guard and a court official injured. 
 
 According to the Tass agency, Nataly Osipova, spokeswoman for the Moscow Regional Court, said the incident took place at a hearing in a case of a gang of nine people who have terrorized Moscow roads, killing more than a dozen of motorists. 
 
 No other details were immediately available. ||||| MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three people being taken to trial in a Moscow court for robbery and murder were shot dead after they grabbed side-arms from court security officers in an attempt to escape, Russian law enforcement officials said on Tuesday. 
 
 Five defendants were in a lift in the Moscow regional court building when they seized the weapons from the two officers escorting them, the Investigative Committee, the state body which handles serious crimes, said in a statement. 
 
 When the lift stopped on the third floor of the building and the doors opened, three of the defendants tried to escape but were shot dead by Russian national guard officers. The two others defendants were seriously wounded, the statement said. 
 
 Three law enforcement officers were hurt, one of them with a gunshot wound. Two of the three were taken to hospital. 
 
 The defendants are accused of being members of a group, dubbed in Russian media the Grand Theft Auto Gang after the computer game. Prosecutors allege the group was responsible for a series of vehicle thefts that in several cases involved killing the cars’ owners. 
 
 The group, made up of people originally from ex-Soviet Central Asia, is accused of committing 17 murders, banditry and other grave crimes, the Investigative Committee said. 
 
 One of the group had fought for Islamic State in Syria before coming to Russia, official TV channel Rossiya 24 said on Tuesday, citing a source in law-enforcement bodies. ||||| Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out. 
 
 McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents. 
 
 According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911. 
 
 McCloud was found in the bathtub with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. He was declared dead at the scene by deputy Warren County corner Kelda Bailess. An autopsy was ordered. 
 
 His death ends a round-the-clock search for him that began March 2 when he overpowered a jail guard and managed to slip out a side door at the jail. 
 
 “This is certainly not how we wanted this to end,” said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. “Our goal was to take him back into custody and have him stand before a jury in Warren County. But he brought this upon himself. 
 
 “We are incredibly relieved this family was not seriously injured and they were able to protect themselves this morning,” Pace said. “It’s been a long week for this community and we appreciate the cooperation of the public as we have pursued this community.” 
 
 Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said authorities believe McCloud had help while he was on the lam in avoiding authorities. 
 
 “He had on tennis shoes; nice, white tennis shoes and a pair of blue jeans, so there is some indication someone has been helping him or he stole those items,” the chief said. “But the shoes looked to be the exact size he wears.” 
 
 He added police received several reports that McCloud had been seen in the Fort Hill area, including a report he was seen around the McNutt House, a historic home on First East Street. He said police were checking other homes on Fort Hill Drive to see if McCloud might have attempted to or broke in them. 
 
 McCloud was shot several hours after he broke into the home in the 600 block of Fort Hill Drive about 4 a.m. Thursday, fought with the homeowner and his wife and held them hostage until they were able to get free and shoot McCloud. Armstrong said the man suffered a non-lifethreatening stab wound and was taken to Merit Health River Region Medical Center for treatment. His wife was hit it the head during a fight with McCloud, but did not have to go to the hospital. 
 
 Armstrong said McCloud entered the house through an unlocked door and attacked the husband when he was on his way to the garage to start his wife’s car. The man and his wife both fought McCloud before he was able to subdue them. 
 
 McCloud was awaiting trial for capital murder and other charges in the June 28 abduction and death of Sharen Wilson. He escaped from the jail about 5:30 a.m. March 2 after using a shank, or homemade knife, to assault and overpower one of the three guards on duty at the jail. 
 
 Sheriff’s deputies assisted by Vicksburg police and state and federal law enforcement agencies concentrated their efforts in the northern part of the city, where authorities said he was known to have lived and has friends and relatives. 
 
 Search teams also multiple times revisited the Kuhn Memorial Hospital property, where McCloud is accused of killing Wilson, and where officers March 3 found a pair of pants he took from the jail guard. 
 
 Teams Friday searched all three buildings on the property floor-by-floor in an effort to find him. Thursday, they used a Mississippi Highway Patrol infrared-equipped helicopter to scan the building and other areas without results. 
 
 McCloud, who had been in the Warren County Jail since his arrest June 29, was indicted in January on multiple counts involving Wilson’s death, and has prior felony convictions for auto burglary, grand larceny and armed robbery, according to court records. 
 
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 Post editor Jan Griffey and reporter Austin Vining contributed to this report.
– It was a dramatic stunt straight out of a movie, but it ended disastrously for members of Russia's notorious Grand Theft Auto Gang. Three of them are dead and two others wounded after a failed escape attempt from a courthouse in Moscow, reports Reuters. In addition to the gang members, one law-enforcement officer was shot and two others suffered lesser injuries, though the details were still firming up. The drama began when the five handcuffed men were being escorted to their courtroom in an elevator by two guards. They managed to overpower the guards and take their weapons, but all five were subsequently shot as they attempted to escape the building. The men were among nine being held on robbery and murder charges over a spate of fatal carjackings in 2014. Authorities say they would place spikes on roads, then kill drivers who got out of their cars to investigate. More than a dozen motorists were killed in that fashion, and Russian media dubbed the assailants the Grand Theft Auto Gang after the video game, reports the AP.