He's still on the loose I hope KOD is careful.
3 killed in courthouse shooting
Judge, court reporter, deputy dead; defendant sought
Friday, March 11, 2005 Posted: 12:02 PM EST (1702 GMT)
Fulton Conty Superior Court Judge Rowland W. Barnes was killed in court Friday.
Image
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Fulton County Superior Court judge, a sheriff's deputy and a court reporter were killed and another deputy was wounded Friday when a defendant grabbed a gun from a deputy sheriff and opened fire at the downtown Atlanta courthouse, officials said.
The first shootings occurred about 9 a.m. in Judge Rowland W. Barnes' eighth-floor courtroom. Barnes was dead at the scene, Judge Gary Spencer told CNN Radio. A court reporter was also killed and a deputy wounded.
Witnesses reported more gunfire outside the courthouse. One witness told CNN that another sheriff's deputy was seen lying on the ground outside the Atlanta courthouse.
Renee Rockwell, a defense attorney, said she was on her way to the courtroom immediately following the shooting, when a deputy grabbed her and pulled her into an elevator. "While we were in the elevator, one of the female deputies started crying and said, 'The defendant took the deputy's gun and held the courtroom hostage and shot the judge.' "
All four victims were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, said Sgt. Clarence Huber of the Fulton County Sheriff's Department.
A search for the suspect, identified by police as Brian Nichols, 34, was under way.
"We do have a search for the suspect ... and the suspect is at large right now," Huber said.
Nichols is suspected of having attempted to carjack up to five vehicles to make an escape.
Warning signs on Atlanta freeways told motorists to be on the look out for a green Honda Accord with Georgia license plates 6584YN.
Nichols was reportedly facing a retrial for rape and kidnapping in Barnes' courtroom, after a first trial resulted in a hung jury. He is described as being an African-American male, 34 years old, about 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 210 pounds.
Barnes was "extremely highly thought of in the legal community," attorney B.J. Bernstein told CNN. The judge presided over both civil and criminal cases.
"The only thing I can imagine is that someone would have had to have moved very quickly and suddenly to catch one of the deputies off guard in order to remove his weapon," she said.
Some said the shooting was predictable given the security lapses at the courthouse.
"The security in the Fulton County Courthouse, the way they deal with prisoners, is absolutely atrocious," attorney Dennis Scheib told CNN. "I said this was going to happen."
Vickie Warner, a courthouse employee, said she heard "three or four shots and we looked out ... and we saw this guy running across the street, with a gun in his hand, into the underground parking deck."
A reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was pistol-whipped and carjacked in his parking garage.
Don O'Briant said a man pulled up in a dark SUV and asked him for directions. When he began giving them, the man pulled a gun and demanded his keys, according to a report on the newspaper's Web site.
O'Briant handed the keys over, but refused the man's order to get in the trunk of his green Honda Accord. The man then threatened to kill him, O'Briant said, and struck him over his left eye with either the butt of his gun or his fist. O'Briant was able to get away, but fell and was injured in the process, according to the report.
Another witness told CNN the suspect took his tow truck at gunpoint outside the courthouse and fled the scene.
The gunman "told me to get out of the truck. I told him he can have the truck. And I walked away," Deronte Franklin said.
Police also were reportedly searching for an Izuzu Trooper, but Atlanta police said they understood the last car taken was the Honda.
Local, state and federal agents were processing the multiple crime scenes, and many downtown streets were blocked off. Gurneys were carried into the courthouse, but had not been carried back out. The courthouse remained on lockdown.
More than 30 schools around Atlanta also were locked down as the search for the subject continued, Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Joe Manguno said.
James Bailey, who said he was a juror at Nichols' trial, said Nichols' courtroom behavior had made him nervous.
"Every time he looked up, he was staring at you," Bailey said.
3 killed in courthouse shooting
Judge, court reporter, deputy dead; defendant sought
Friday, March 11, 2005 Posted: 12:02 PM EST (1702 GMT)
Fulton Conty Superior Court Judge Rowland W. Barnes was killed in court Friday.
Image
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Fulton County Superior Court judge, a sheriff's deputy and a court reporter were killed and another deputy was wounded Friday when a defendant grabbed a gun from a deputy sheriff and opened fire at the downtown Atlanta courthouse, officials said.
The first shootings occurred about 9 a.m. in Judge Rowland W. Barnes' eighth-floor courtroom. Barnes was dead at the scene, Judge Gary Spencer told CNN Radio. A court reporter was also killed and a deputy wounded.
Witnesses reported more gunfire outside the courthouse. One witness told CNN that another sheriff's deputy was seen lying on the ground outside the Atlanta courthouse.
Renee Rockwell, a defense attorney, said she was on her way to the courtroom immediately following the shooting, when a deputy grabbed her and pulled her into an elevator. "While we were in the elevator, one of the female deputies started crying and said, 'The defendant took the deputy's gun and held the courtroom hostage and shot the judge.' "
All four victims were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, said Sgt. Clarence Huber of the Fulton County Sheriff's Department.
A search for the suspect, identified by police as Brian Nichols, 34, was under way.
"We do have a search for the suspect ... and the suspect is at large right now," Huber said.
Nichols is suspected of having attempted to carjack up to five vehicles to make an escape.
Warning signs on Atlanta freeways told motorists to be on the look out for a green Honda Accord with Georgia license plates 6584YN.
Nichols was reportedly facing a retrial for rape and kidnapping in Barnes' courtroom, after a first trial resulted in a hung jury. He is described as being an African-American male, 34 years old, about 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 210 pounds.
Barnes was "extremely highly thought of in the legal community," attorney B.J. Bernstein told CNN. The judge presided over both civil and criminal cases.
"The only thing I can imagine is that someone would have had to have moved very quickly and suddenly to catch one of the deputies off guard in order to remove his weapon," she said.
Some said the shooting was predictable given the security lapses at the courthouse.
"The security in the Fulton County Courthouse, the way they deal with prisoners, is absolutely atrocious," attorney Dennis Scheib told CNN. "I said this was going to happen."
Vickie Warner, a courthouse employee, said she heard "three or four shots and we looked out ... and we saw this guy running across the street, with a gun in his hand, into the underground parking deck."
A reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was pistol-whipped and carjacked in his parking garage.
Don O'Briant said a man pulled up in a dark SUV and asked him for directions. When he began giving them, the man pulled a gun and demanded his keys, according to a report on the newspaper's Web site.
O'Briant handed the keys over, but refused the man's order to get in the trunk of his green Honda Accord. The man then threatened to kill him, O'Briant said, and struck him over his left eye with either the butt of his gun or his fist. O'Briant was able to get away, but fell and was injured in the process, according to the report.
Another witness told CNN the suspect took his tow truck at gunpoint outside the courthouse and fled the scene.
The gunman "told me to get out of the truck. I told him he can have the truck. And I walked away," Deronte Franklin said.
Police also were reportedly searching for an Izuzu Trooper, but Atlanta police said they understood the last car taken was the Honda.
Local, state and federal agents were processing the multiple crime scenes, and many downtown streets were blocked off. Gurneys were carried into the courthouse, but had not been carried back out. The courthouse remained on lockdown.
More than 30 schools around Atlanta also were locked down as the search for the subject continued, Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Joe Manguno said.
James Bailey, who said he was a juror at Nichols' trial, said Nichols' courtroom behavior had made him nervous.
"Every time he looked up, he was staring at you," Bailey said.
