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. 
 
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 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.
– 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.