Shooting at courthouse in Downtown Atlanta

[BigJohn&TheLions]

Am I the only one who, besides feeling aghast at what he did, read MLK and can't get Chris Rock out of my head? Maybe he ran out the emergency exit and called a friend. "I need you to come pick me up." "Yeah, where you at?" "I'm on MLK..." "RUN!!! RUN!!!"

[st.cronin]

SkyDog, please catch this guy already.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

In the same garage where the journalist was pistol-whipped THIS MORNING. You think they could have checked the entire garage in less than 15 hours?!

Absolutely incredible.

If I'm Nichols, and a guy who's seen me and has a description of my vehicle gets away, I'm probably going to look for another vehicle immediately, but park the previous one somewhere else in the garage so as to throw the police off my trail.

I figure that's what happened here. It's a little astonishing that it took the police 15 hours to think of the same thing, but in the confusion it doesn't surprise me TOO much.

That said, CNN.com is reporting that Judge Barnes was the same judge who ordered sterilization for that lady who had 7 kids and then killed (drowned?) her 8th a while back. Not that that's relevant, I just found it interesting.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by BigJohn&TheLions

Am I the only one who, besides feeling aghast at what he did, read MLK and can't get Chris Rock out of my head? Maybe he ran out the emergency exit and called a friend. "I need you to come pick me up." "Yeah, where you at?" "I'm on MLK..." "RUN!!! RUN!!!"

lol

"Martin Luther King stood for peace. What is Martin Luther King now? A street. I don't care where you are in America if you are on MLK there's some violence going down."

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

If I'm Nichols, and a guy who's seen me and has a description of my vehicle gets away, I'm probably going to look for another vehicle immediately, but park the previous one somewhere else in the garage so as to throw the police off my trail.

I figure that's what happened here. It's a little astonishing that it took the police 15 hours to think of the same thing, but in the confusion it doesn't surprise me TOO much.

That said, CNN.com is reporting that Judge Barnes was the same judge who ordered sterilization for that lady who had 7 kids and then killed (drowned?) her 8th a while back. Not that that's relevant, I just found it interesting.

Shaken baby syndrome. It was a plea agreement she agreed to, and this judge allowed it.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

Shaken baby syndrome. It was a plea agreement she agreed to, and this judge allowed it.

Oh, I'm not passing judgment on the sentence involved. Just saying that I found it interesting that the judge should be involved in three fairly high-profile headlines so close together (the dead child, Heatley, and now this).

I guess bad things really do come in threes.

[Ragone]

Man Jack Bauer would have caught this guy by now.. Hell Sledge Hammer would have caught this guy by now.

This guy is probably out of the state by now

[Solecismic]

If nothing else, this is becoming beyond humiliating for the Atlanta police force.

First, the courthouse leaves one female deputy to guard an unshackled defendant facing life in prison for an extremely violent crime.

And now, they don't seem to understand that this guy has some intelligence, and knew not to travel far by daylight on foot or in a car known to be stolen. They should have sensed the pattern and scoured local garages for the Honda first. Hard to believe it took them more than 12 hours to find the Honda.

My biggest worry is that when he ditched the Honda, his next carjacking victim did go into the trunk (willingly or dead). The Keystone Kops don't have a chance.

[CraigSca]

I agree, this is looking pretty bad for the Atlanta police force.

A couple things caught my attention in particular. "We have over 100 officers working this case." That's all they can spare?! I realize there are cost issues involved, but there's a dangerous gunman on the loose! Obviously he's not the only criminal running around Atlanta, but this is SO high-profile and a matter of civic duty.

Second, "We will work this case day and night until he is apprehended." I realize there's not much you can say here, but...."DUH".

Considering this along with the Montgomery County sniper attacks a year ago - doesn't it seem a lot easier to slip through the cracks and blend in with society than previously thought?

The problem is...they had this guy. I know there are many modes of transportation in that area, but the longer this goes on, the better the chance that it'll be some off-duty policeman at a Dunkin Donuts in Nowhere, New Mexico that finally locates this guy.

[Celeval]

CNN is reporting that the car in the garage was found by Joe Random citizen, not the cops. So the police apparently didn't look, despite reports of the fugitive carjacking a tow truck nearby.

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by Celeval

CNN is reporting that the car in the garage was found by Joe Random citizen, not the cops. So the police apparently didn't look, despite reports of the fugitive carjacking a tow truck nearby.

Wow. That's sad.

[Ksyrup]

This is truly unbelievable. For the car to be in the same parking lot, and for them not to find it, but instead put out an APB for that car based on the ALC reporter's comments, is simply stunning. Did the reporter (or anyone?) see him drive out of the parking lot in that car? I bet not!

He must have someone as a hostage (or dead), because someone would have come forward and said their car was stolen/carjacked, etc., and they know a car crashed through a barrier to exit.

[Ksyrup]

"The garage's lower level exit gate, used only by parkers with monthly passes, was broken and detectives told CNN they believe Nichols crashed through it after taking another car on that level.

But they have not ruled out the possibility that he may have walked out of the garage."


You would think, given all that's occurred, that someone would have been reported missing. Maybe he just stole a car...

[vtbub]

CNN and MSNBC are reporting that an off-duty customs officer was shot and killed in Nicholls neighborhood, the truck was stolen along with his gun and ammo.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Ragone

Man Jack Bauer would have caught this guy by now.. Hell Sledge Hammer would have caught this guy by now.

Yeah, but Hammer would have nuked the entire city in the process.

[Tekneek]

What an embarassment. This is the same police force that is infamous with me for :

(1) conducting a raid on an "adult entertainment" store and carrying out dildos and vibrators
(2) an Atlanta PD officer, standing next to me on the sidewalk, laughing when a pedestrian was almost ran down on West Peachtree ST
(3) refusing to show up to a car break-in where multiple items were ripped off and blood from the perpetrator was on the scene

If this lone individual can discombobulate the entire city's police force, I hate to think about what would happen if someone was really out to do some damage to a lot of people. They beat people trying to pick up family at the airport, but they have a 51 year old grandmother guarding a prisoner.

[cuervo72]

Yep...really, you would think that terrorists could take this line of action - they wouldn't need explosive, just guns (and Nichols started w/o even that), and if there were say, 5 or 10 of them rather than just 1...

[HomerJSimpson]

Nichols has been caught in Gwinnett county at the home of a friend.

[HomerJSimpson]

They are also reporting a pick-up truck fitting the discription of the one stolen from the Customs agent is in the parking lot. Might be another truck, but it matches the physical discription.

[ISiddiqui]

WOOO!!

That's good news! Way to go ATL police!

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

WOOO!!

That's good news! Way to go ATL police!

It was Gwinnett SWAT.

[Buzzbee]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

WOOO!!

That's good news! Way to go Gwinnett police!

Fixed.

[HomerJSimpson]

They are reporting he is in Federal custody. That suggests that he is strong suspect on the Federal agent murder.

[HomerJSimpson]

The AJC says it was the Customs Agent's pickup truck that tip police off. He got one more before finally going down.

[HomerJSimpson]

Suspect captured at Gwinnett apartment complex
> Judge, deputy, court reporter slain at courthouse

> By CAMERON McWHIRTER, STEVE VISSER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> Published on: 03/12/05
Fugitive Brian G. Nichols was taken into custody about 11:30 this morning at an apartment complex in Gwinnett County, according to Gwinnett police. Police surrounded an apartment in the Bridgewater apartments, on Satellite Boulevard, near the Gwinnett Place Mall. After a brief standoff, he was arrested.

Police were alerted to the area because the blue pickup truck of a slain custom's agent was parked in the lot.

The customs agent, who has not yet been identified, was found shot dead at 8:30 a.m. this morning.

The discovery comes as a massive manhunt continues for Brian Nichols, 33, who is suspected of shooting and killing the judge in his rape case and two others on Friday.

Nichols apparently was holding a hostage at the apartments before he surrendered.

Facing life in prison, Nichols transformed himself Friday morning from accused rapist to hunted fugitive after he grabbed a handgun from a deputy sheriff and burst into a Fulton County courtroom and opened fire, killing a judge and a court reporter.

As he made his escape from the courthouse in downtown Atlanta, he shot to death a deputy who briefly impeded his getaway, police said.

Police acknowledged early Saturday morning that the car they earlier believed he had used for his escape was found in the downtown Atlanta parking lot where it had been reported stolen in the morning.

Saturday morning, WSB-TV reported that someone claiming to be Nichols had called authorities and made a threat to kill the prosecutor in his case, Assistant District Attorney Gayle Abramson.

According to the WSB report, the call was made around 4:15 p.m. Friday. There was no confirmation that the person calling was in fact Nichols, but as a precaution extra security was provided for Abramson.

Within the span of 15 minutes, Nichols shut down the state's busiest courthouse, caused chaos in downtown Atlanta and put law enforcement throughout the Southeast on high alert.

He left a despairing legal community in Atlanta wondering about the worst security breach yet in Fulton County's flawed justice system. And his violence sparked a nation to wrestle once again with the difficult issue of security in its halls of justice.

It was unclear what moved Nichols to shoot and kill Rowland Barnes, 64, the widely respected Fulton County Superior Court judge assigned to Nichols' trial. Yet it seemed that Nichols had worked with a purpose: After the 210-pound former college football player overpowered Deputy Cynthia Hall — who was guarding him as he changed from his jail jumpsuit into street clothes for his trial — he set out for Barnes' courtroom instead of taking a quick route to freedom.

Courthouse officials said that Nichols entered Barnes' private chambers demanding to see the judge shortly after 9 a.m. A staff member pushed a "panic" button, triggering a light in the courtroom. Nichols overpowered and handcuffed a deputy who responded to the alarm.

He took his gun, and armed with two weapons, Nichols stormed into the courtroom and opened fire. After shooting Barnes, he shot and killed Julie Ann Brandau, 46, the court reporter seated near the judge.

Richard L. Robbins, a lawyer, was arguing an unrelated civil case before Barnes when the shootings occurred. "It was just horrific," said Robbins, who was too shaken to say much more Friday afternoon.

Renee Rockwell, a lawyer working on an unrelated case, walked into Barnes' courtroom just after the shooting. "I saw hats on the ground, and all the deputies were running with guns drawn," Rockwell said. "You don't ever see that." She said she was pushed into an elevator by deputies. One was crying.

The two prosecutors trying the case, Gayle Abramson and Ash Joshi, were still in their offices in the courthouse complex. Jurors on the Nichols case were in the building but had not yet been called to the courtroom.

"He wanted the people who were involved in his trial," said Deputy District Attorney Al Dixon.

Nichols' opportunity presented itself when he found himself alone with Hall, a 51-year-old grandmother who is about 5 feet tall, police said.

Hall was with Nichols in a windowless holding room on the eighth floor of the newer of Fulton County's two court buildings. Barnes' courtroom is in the older building nearby. Nichols pounced on Hall, who was injured so badly that emergency officials later couldn't determine whether she was severely beaten or shot in the face. Her skull was cracked, her brain was bruised and the bones around her right eye were fractured, said Dr. Jeffrey Salomone, a trauma surgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Equipped with Hall's gun and police radio, Nichols walked from the newer building to the older one, using a sky bridge that joins them.

After the shooting, he bolted from the bloodied courtroom and made for a stairwell, running down eight flights out an emergency door, setting off an alarm.

Deputies chased down the stairs after him. Crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, he entered the Underground Atlanta parking garage. He ran into Deputy Hoyt Teasley, 43.

Nichols shot Teasley multiple times in the stomach and then carjacked an SUV, police said. Teasley, who wasn't wearing a bulletproof vest, had pulled his gun but didn't have a chance to fire it, said Fulton County Sgt. Mike Thompson. His gun was found near his body, Thompson said.

Thompson struggled to save Teasley's life. "I did all I could," said Thompson, who wiped the blood off his hand and began roping off the area with yellow crime scene tape.

As police swarmed, Nichols stole a dark SUV and sped away.

Steve Robinson, 16, of Atlanta was walking to the courthouse when he heard shots from the parking garage. He turned to see a man being tossed from the SUV. "People were running out of the parking lot, scrambling everywhere," Robinson said. "Everyone was scared to death."

A few blocks to the west, Deronta Franklin, a tow-truck driver, was waiting on a dispatch at Peachtree and Wall streets when he saw a dark SUV round the corner and hit the curb. Police cars followed. Suddenly, the driver of the SUV was at Franklin's window, pointing a gun at his face. "He told me to get out of the truck, and I told him he could have the truck," Franklin said.

The man got in Franklin's truck and sped north on Peachtree Street, then took a left on Walton Street, going the wrong way down a one-way street.

Minutes later, Almeta Kilgo, 37, a computer programmer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was parking in the Cone Street parking garage when a man believed to be Nichols approached. "He came over, put a gun to my head, and told me to 'move over,' " she said. He started to drive the car, but could not figure how to exit the garage. "He kept saying, 'Get in the trunk,' " Kilgo said.

Kilgo ran away screaming, and Nichols drove off.

A few moments later, Don O'Briant, a veteran reporter at the Journal-Constitution, was parking at a garage on the same street when a man approached him asking for directions. When the man pulled a gun and demanded his keys O'Briant complied. The man then told O'Briant to get into the trunk of O'Briant's 1997 green Honda Accord. O'Briant refused.

O'Briant said he began to run when the man hit him over his left eye with either the butt of his gun or his fist, gashing O'Briant's head.

Law enforcement put out a nationwide alert searching for O'Briant's car, listing the license plate. Late Friday night, however, a Journal-Constitution employee found O'Briant's car parked in the same garage where the carjacking had occurred more than 12 hours earlier.

Police refused to discuss why the car had not been discovered in earlier sweeps of the deck.

And Nichols was gone.

Barry Hazen, Nichols' attorney, described his client, a former UPS worker and dropout from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, as "very laid-back, very easygoing, very polite."

Hazen, however, thought Nichols was going to prison on felony charges that he raped and held hostage a former girlfriend. It was Nichols' second time around on the charges: a trial ended last week with a hung jury.

"I didn't think the jury was going to do anything but convict," Hazen said. "I was very surprised. This time around, I thought he had no chance."

Juror Robert Singleton, 40, said he was in the first-floor cafeteria when a couple of deputies got up from their table and said there was trouble on the eighth floor. "He probably thought today was Judgment Day," Singleton said of Nichols. Singleton said he had not yet decided whether Nichols was guilty in the rape case.

"The only thing I had decided was that someone had gone crazy, either him or the [woman who accused him of rape]," Singleton said. "And now we know who."

From about 9:30 a.m. into Friday night, news helicopters followed squad cars around the metro area, tracking down rumored sightings of Nichols. Clayton County police officers circled a Jonesboro neighborhood Friday morning where the suspects' parents live.

Emergency messages were posted on highway signs across the state and law enforcement agencies from Atlanta Police to the FBI were put on alert. Atlanta public schools were put on lockdown throughout Friday.

The shootings brought a special prayer in the General Assembly. Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor started the Senate session today saying, "If there ever was a day we need a devotional and prayer, it is today."

Gov. Sonny Perdue, speaking outside Grady hospital, said "It is a sad day for our country."


Barnes' neighbors wept in the street when they learned of his death.

Enriqueta R. Lineres, who lives next door to the Barnes family, said, "Oh, Jesus. Oh, Lord. Why? My heart is broke."

[ISiddiqui]

Bah, Gwinnett is basically part of Atlanta anyway .

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

If this lone individual can discombobulate the entire city's police force, I hate to think about what would happen if someone was really out to do some damage to a lot of people.

I agree absolutely. With this level of competence, I shudder to think what an organized terrorist cell could do if they wanted. Of course, at this rate, we may find out in a couple of years. Good to know 4 years of concentration on Homeland Security has netted us so much improvement.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I agree absolutely. With this level of competence, I shudder to think what an organized terrorist cell could do if they wanted. Of course, at this rate, we may find out in a couple of years. Good to know 4 years of concentration on Homeland Security has netted us so much improvement.

The biggest news with the ATL PD, that I've been aware of, is how the vice squad impounds the vehicles of "Johns" and the reputation they have for physically assaulting women trying to pick up their parents/grandparents at the airport. Apparently those were the areas they needed the improvements in after 9/11.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Bah, Gwinnett is basically part of Atlanta anyway .

Yeah, right.

Gwinnett works hard to be seen as separate of Atlanta, IMO. Now they get to take some of the glory.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm just stunned that the lone guard was a 5 foot 51 year old woman. The fact that she was so badly hurt that they can't tell if she was shot or beat is stunning too. I'm just glad this A-hole is caught.

[HomerJSimpson]

Three interesting tidbits:

1. Police are afraid there might be another victim. Since he didn't take that Accord, they think he somehow stole another vehicle to get to the Lenox area to kill the Cutom agent. It is possible that he high-jacked and kidnapped the agent, but they are afraid he might have taken a car and killed someone else.

2. The police knew he was still in the area because he stole a cell phone from one of the car jack victims, and it stayed on him the whole time. They knew he was moving in certain areas, but they couldn't pin-point exactly where.

3. A citizen called the police to tip them off he was in the apartments he was captured in. He saw him run from the pick-up and running into the apartment.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

The last time this much damage was incurred in Atlanta, Bill Sherman blew thru town.

[Bubba Wheels]

Originally Posted by BigJohn&TheLions

The last time this much damage was incurred in Atlanta, Bill Sherman blew thru town.

Georgia Cop to speeding Yankee: "Nobody goes that fast thru Georgia!"

Yankee's response: "Sherman did"

[Bubba Wheels]

Interesting how the different cable news are talking about this. First thought I had was "was the overpowered deputy a female?" Similar thing happened in Detroit couple of years ago. Fox News has consistantly stated is was a 'female deputy." MSNBC has studiously avoided using the word 'female' in front of deputy. Being PC? Not sure about the others.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Alleged rapist... already tried to take a weapon to court... left alone in a room, unrestrained, with one female cop.

Seriously... criminal charges need to be brought against whoever's in charge around there. People are dead because somebody was really, really, fucking stupid.

Agree 100%. This was just monumental incompetance that allowed this to happen.

[Ben E Lou]

I've met David Allman several times. He's very involved in the Fulton County branch of the ministry I work for.

Witness tells of horror at Fulton courthouse

David Allman, an Atlanta real estate attorney, was among several people taken hostage by gunman Brian Nichols during Friday's shooting spree.

Allman, 51, said he had arrived early to the Fulton County courthouse, hoping Judge Rowland Barnes would hear his real estate case, but Barnes had already started hearing other cases. So Allman sat alone in a waiting room, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.

He saw two women, a court secretary and a calendar clerk, walking toward him with a well-dressed man carrying a gun. He didn't think anything of it, since he assumed the man was an undercover police officer. He recognized the gun as the standard issue weapon of a sheriff's deputy.

But then the man turned the gun on Allman and, without a word, motioned with the gun for all three of them to walk into the Barnes's private office. He ordered them all onto the floor and handcuffed Allman and the secretary.

The two women, he said, "were just hysterical."

"I knew why he was there," Allman said. "He's after the judge."

Nichols ripped the phone out of the wall and searched all three for cell phones. Then he popped in and out of the judge's office two or three times, each time for only about 30 seconds, Allman said.

"Where's the judge?", he demanded of the women.

The secretary told him Barnes was in the courtroom.

"Which courtroom?", he asked. And she told him.

Nichols was strangely focused and calm, Allman said.

"He was quite calm, but he was keyed up," Allman said. "He acted like a cop. He was that calm."

Nichols exited the room again, and there were sounds of a scuffle. The women started feeling better, since they thought he was being subdued by a deputy. Then Nichols walked in with the deputy — a heavy-set man perhaps 60 years old — but it was Nichols carrying the deputy's gun. Now he had two guns.

Nichols put the deputy on the floor behind the judge's desk and handcuffed the man with his own handcuffs. Allman said he snatched off the deputy's tie, presumably to tie up the other hostage, but realized it was a clip on tie. Then he tried to wrench off Allman's tie but, while still holding a gun in the other hand, but couldn't manage it.

Nichols heard a code come over the deputy's radio — "158, 158". He then keyed the handset and said "158, 158" into the headset. "I thought that was pretty bold," Allman said.

After putting the deputy in the closet, Nichols left for about a minute.

"We heard two shots, and screams," Allman said. "And then nothing happens."

The deputy then got out of the closet and, with his hands cuffed in front of him, started calling into his radio: "There's a shooter loose on the 8th floor of the old building. There's a shooter loose on the 8th floor. We think he shot a judge."

Seconds later, three people came running into Barnes' private chamber, saying that somebody shot the judge. Allman told them to lock the door for safety. And they called 911.

Then about 10 deputies came in and took them all into a jury room. It was there that Allman heard from witnesses what happened in the courtroom.

Nichols entered the courtroom from a door behind the judge. He walked over to the judge, put the gun to the back of his head, and — without saying a word, pulled the trigger, Allman said.

Nichols then fired a shot at the court reporter.

One of the civil attorneys at the desk in front of the judge ran out the courtroom's double doors, and Nichols ran out behind him.

Allman recalled he had a gun pulled on him some 30 years ago in court in a domestic dispute case, but the husband did not shoot and gave up. This time, he said he was thinking, "I'm just collateral. But I know we may all be collateral damage."

Allman added: "I'm just glad he didn't shoot me. I knew it could happen at any second."

[stevew]

I cant believe this guy didnt go down in a hail of bullets. You kill a judge and try to escape cause you might get a life sentance, meanwhile adding 3-4 more people to your body count. And then you surrender, now will pretty much 100% get the death penalty, and spend the rest of your life in prison. It just seems pretty odd.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by stevew

I cant believe this guy didnt go down in a hail of bullets. You kill a judge and try to escape cause you might get a life sentance, meanwhile adding 3-4 more people to your body count. And then you surrender, now will pretty much 100% get the death penalty, and spend the rest of your life in prison. It just seems pretty odd.

Well, based on David's account, it certainly sounds like he was very much after the judge, which was not the prevailing thought yesterday.

[stevew]

Depending on how it is meant, this could be troublesome


As Nichols was taken into federal custody, a crowd of people cheered across the street from the apartment complex where he was arrested. They watched as a black sport utility vehicle drove away, escorted by multiple police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing.

Surely they were cheering for the cops?

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by stevew

Depending on how it is meant, this could be troublesome


As Nichols was taken into federal custody, a crowd of people cheered across the street from the apartment complex where he was arrested. They watched as a black sport utility vehicle drove away, escorted by multiple police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing.

Surely they were cheering for the cops?

Absolutely. There were people stopping their cars all along the route from Gwinnett to the FBI HQ. (My wife saw the caravan, FYI, and confirmed this.) All were cheering for the cops.

[Ragone]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Yeah, but Hammer would have nuked the entire city in the process.

And this is bad because?

[Radii]

That apartment complex is about 5 minutes from where Oliegirl and I live. Also, when they took him onto the interstate, there is a very good chance that the office I work in was visible from the chopper feed that was going out everywhere. Freaky to be that close to something that turned into such a national story like this.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I work at a radio station that airs the Michael Savage show. He had this guy filling in for him named Rick Roberts. Roberts did an amazing thing on friday night. In the three hours he was on I heard him talking about three things: 1. A local thing in San Diego involving a war memorial (the way he talked about it you would have thought it was the end of the world.) 2. The woman whose husband wants her feeding tube removed. 3. How much he appreciates filling in (at least four times per hour.) Not once in three hours did I hear even a mention of anything in Atlanta. Amazing. I would have thought the show was on tape, but you don't play tape of a fill-in.

[Ben E Lou]

The level of the security failures continues to grow as the details get out. The supposedly-monitored security camera in the area were Nichols attacked the female deputy captured the initial assult, but didn't help capture the suspect.

Camera rolled during attack
Control desk failed to notice assault
A surveillance camera captured Brian G. Nichols' surprise attack on a Fulton County sheriff's deputy, but no one in the control center noticed the assault and sent help, said a law enforcement official who viewed the security tape.

The camera, one of more than 40 stationed in the Fulton County courthouse, showed the 6-foot-1 Nichols assaulting Deputy Cynthia Hall and escaping with her gun. Hall was escorting Nichols to a holding cell before his rape retrial resumed.

Moments after the attack, which occurred before 9 a.m. Friday, witnesses say Nichols made his way through the courthouse and gunned down a judge, a court reporter and one of Hall's fellow deputies. Hours later, he allegedly killed a federal agent.

Hall remained in critical condition with severe head injuries at Grady Memorial Hospital.

"It's not just horrible, it was preventable," said Senior Superior Court Judge Philip Etheridge. Hall's relatives and friends in West Virginia, where the deputy grew up, also wondered why more security measures were not taken to reduce the chances of such an attack.

Some courthouse veterans say sheriff's department policies would have to be rewritten and deputies retrained to prevent similar attacks in the future.

Hall, they said, followed accepted security procedures in dealing with a prisoner, even though they put her at risk. Policies allow one deputy to escort as many as four inmates at a time.

At 8:48 a.m. on Friday, Hall took a handcuffed Nichols from the detention area at the bottom of the downtown Justice Center Tower and put him in an elevator to take him to an eighth-floor holding area. There, Nichols was to change into his civilian clothes and resume a rape retrial before Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes.

The holding room, which has two cells, is supposed to be a secure area between courtrooms in the modern Justice Center Tower.

A video camera, which is supposed to be monitored by two guards in a command post, shows the two arriving in the holding area between two courtrooms, according to a law enforcement official who viewed the tape.

The video shows Hall guiding Nichols, whose hands are still handcuffed behind his back, face-first into one of two open cells.

Hall releases one cuff and turns Nichols around to unhook the remaining cuff, which is dangling from his wrist. She uncuffs him so he can change from a jail jumpsuit into street clothes.

The muscular, 33-year-old Nichols then lunges at Hall, knocking the petite, 51-year-old woman backward into another cell. Both disappear from camera view because having a camera inside the actual holding cells is prohibited for privacy reasons. Two to three minutes later, Nichols emerges from the cell, holding Hall's gun belt and police radio. He picks up her keys from the floor and locks her inside the cell. Nichols then enters the empty cell.

A couple of minutes later, he emerges dressed in civilian clothes. He locks the door behind him and saunters calmly out of the holding area, carrying the gun belt, according to the law enforcement official who viewed the tape. Nichols appears to know which key to use to unlock the holding area door and enters a vacant courtroom on the eighth floor.

Nichols told Atlanta police that on the way out he retrieved the deputy's gun from a security lockbox where Hall had placed the weapon. He was able to get the weapon because he had Hall's keys.

Nichols then crosses the bridge to the eighth floor of the adjacent old Fulton County courthouse. Minutes later, the shooting began that mortally wounded Judge Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau.

Nichols strolled into Barnes' office from a side doorway and herded a real estate lawyer, the judge's secretary and a case manager into the judge's private chambers. He then captured Deputy Grantley White, handcuffed him and put him into a closet.

Moments later, the hostages heard two gunshots and screaming.

Witnesses say Nichols entered the courtroom from a door behind Barnes' bench and fatally shot him and Brandau.

It was only then that the first distress call went out.

White, who was handcuffed, stumbled out of a closet in Barnes' office and used his radio to broadcast a "Signal 63," indicating that an officer needed backup.

No deputies knew Hall was critically injured.

In the detention center of the Justice Center Tower, at least eight deputies took the elevator to the eighth floor on their way to Barnes' court. They hurried through the holding area where Nichols had left Hall, not realizing she was on a cell floor. She was discovered after Deputy White reported to responding deputies that Hall was missing.

Barnes had requested additional security for Nichols' trial after deputies found two sharp door hinges in the defendant's socks earlier in the week, said Gayle Abramson, the lead Fulton County prosecutor handling Nichols' case. At a news conference Saturday, Sheriff Myron Freeman said he didn't know whether Hall knew of the increased threat or whether extra precautions had been taken.

"She shouldn't have been there to start with," Judge Etheridge said, referring to the size disparity between Hall, a petite grandmother, and Nichols, a former college linebacker.

"There should have been at least two, possibly three, good-sized deputies and they should have been warned," Etheridge said.

Deputies said a security flaw is that cells at the courthouse have solid doors, which leaves a solitary guard like Hall vulnerable to attack. Ideally, a deputy should be able to lock a prisoner inside the cell and have the prisoner stick his or her hands through door slot to be cuffed or uncuffed to ensure the deputy's security.

"Whoever designed that area had never handled inmates before," said a courthouse security veteran.

After attacking Hall and killing Barnes and Brandau, Nichols reportedly gunned down Sheriff's Deputy Hoyt Teasley outside the courthouse in downtown Atlanta and later killed David Wilhelm, an assistant special agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Atlanta office.

[Ben E Lou]

Setting himself up for an insanity defense???

I believe God brought him to my door'
Taken hostage in her home, Duluth woman shared her life, faith
Just two days after moving into her Duluth apartment, Ashley Smith is up late unpacking.

About 2 a.m. Saturday, the 26-year-old runs out of cigarettes and heads to a convenience store to buy a pack of Marlboro Light Menthols.

When she returns, she sees a man in a truck waiting outside her door. She had seen the man earlier, but didn't think much of it. Seeing him again puts her on high alert.

She gets out of her car and shuts the door.

She hears the truck door close about the same time. Fear rises in her.

Holding her key in her hand, she makes her way to her front door and senses his presence. As she slides her key into the lock, she turns to face the man from the truck. She screams. He pokes a gun into her ribs.

"Stop screaming," he demands. "I won't hurt you if you stop screaming."

She fears the worst — that she will be raped and killed.

"Do you know who I am?" he asks.

He is wearing a dark blazer beneath a red ski parka but no shirt. He has a new UGA cap on his head.

She doesn't know him.

He removes the cap, showing his shaved head.

"Now do you know who I am?" he asks again.

She recognizes him now: Brian G. Nichols. She begins to tremble.

"I won't hurt you," he tells her.

He takes her into the bathroom, places her in the tub and sits on a small chair, holding a gun.

He leaves her to check for other people in the apartment. When he returns, he tries again to reassure her. "I don't want to hurt anyone else," he says.

He worries that her screams could bring too much attention. "If you scream, the police will come. There will be a hostage situation," he says. "I'll have to kill you and kill myself."

He binds her with masking tape and carries her into the bedroom, where he restrains her with more tape, an electrical cord and some curtains. He makes no sexual advance.

"I just need to relax," he tells her.

He needs a shower and leads her as she hops back to the bathroom. He sits her on the chair and drapes a towel over her head for modesty. He places his guns on the counter and showers.

After he finds some fresh clothes — a T-shirt from a bar where she once worked and the trousers of a former boyfriend. He seems to be calmer.

He unbinds her and they sit in her living room.

"I've had a really long day," he says.

He offers her some faint explanation — maybe his first to account to anyone of how he had spent this long day.

"I feel like I'm a warrior. The people of my color have gone through a lot."

But he says he's had enough. "I don't want to hurt anybody anymore," he tells her. "I don't want to kill anybody.

"I want to rest."

The atmosphere becomes more normal, as normal as it could be.

Smith asks if he would mind if she reads.

Nichols says OK. She gets the book she'd been reading, "The Purpose Driven Life." It is a book that offers daily guidance. She picks up where she had left off — the first paragraph of the 33rd chapter.

"We serve God by serving others. The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige and position. If you can demand service from others you've arrived. In our self serving culture with its me first mentality, acting like a servant is not a popular concept."

He stops her and asks her to read that again.

They talk and lose track of time. They look at her family photos. "Who's this?" he asks, pointing to a picture. "Who's this?"

She tells him about her family. Her husband died in her arms four years ago after he had been stabbed in a knife fight in Augusta, her hometown. She has a 5-year-old daughter.

She implores him not to kill her because that would leave her daughter without a mother or a father.

She tells him she is supposed tovisit her daughter Saturday morning about 10 a.m. at Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula. She hadn't seen her in two weeks. "She's expecting to see me," she tells him. "She's already been through a lot in her life."

Smith shows Nichols her husband's autopsy report. "That's what a lot of people will have to go through now, because of what you've done," she tells him. "You need to turn yourself in. No one else needs to die, and you're going to die if you don't."

Smith asks Nichols how he feels about what he did — what about the families of the victims?

She senses a change. "He wasn't a warrior anymore," she recalled later.

"You can go in there right now, pick up that gun and kill me," he tells her. "I'd rather you do it than the police."

He talks about his mother, who is in Africa on business, and wonders what she must be thinking about her son.

They sit watching the TV news of the shooting spree. The screen fills with the story of his attack on Cynthia Hall, the 51-year-old deputy he had overpowered Friday morning to begin his rampage.

"I didn't shoot her," Nichols interjects. "I hit her really hard. Lord, I'm sorry. . . . I hope she lives."

He sees himself on the broadcast. "I can't believe that's me," he says.

Nichols later pulls out the badge and driver's license of David Wilhelm, the U.S. customs agent whom he is accused of killing hours before. He hands them to Smith.

Smith looks at the license and tells Nichols that Wilhelm was 40 years old. "He probably has a wife and kids," she says.

"I didn't want to kill him," Nichols says. "He wouldn't do what I asked him to do. He fought me, so I had to kill him."

Smith tells Nichols he must surrender.

"I deserve a bullet in the back," he tells her.

No, Smith says, but he must be held accountable for what he did.

Smith tells Nichols his life still has a purpose. By ministering to other inmates, "you can go to jail and save many more people than you killed."

As the night wears on, Smith begins to feel her chances improve.

Nichols tells her he will let her go to see her daughter later in the morning.

Around 6:15 a.m., Nichols says that before sunrise he needs to move the truck he is accused of stealing from Wilhelm.

She agrees to follow him in her car. He leaves the guns under her bed.

As they drive, Smith thinks about calling 911 on her cellphone, but she decides against it. She fears police will come and surround them. There'd be a shootout.

Nichols ditches the truck off Buford Highway, about two miles from the apartment complex.

"Wow, you didn't drive off," Nichols says as he gets into her car. "I thought you were going to."

She drives him back to her apartment. She no longer doubts that she will be set free.

Back at the apartment, Nichols is hungry. She cooks him eggs and pancakes, gives him fruit juice. They have breakfast together.

Nichols asks when she needs to see her daughter. At 10:00 a.m., Smith responds. It'd be good if she could leave at 9:30 to get there.

Smith washes the dishes and gets ready to leave.

Nichols asks her to come visit him in jail. "You're an angel sent from God to me," he tells her. "I want to talk to you again. Will you come see me?"

She tells him she will.

"I'll be back in a little while," she says.

Nichols gives her an odd look that makes Smith wonder whether he believes her.

At the door, he hands her $40. "Take it," Nichols says. "I don't have any need for it."

Nichols holds an electronic stud finder he took from Wilhelm's truck and asks if he can hang some of her pictures or curtainswhile she's gone.

Smith tells him to do whatever he likes.

As she walks into the bright, warm daylight, Smith begins to tremble. She drives to a stop sign and dials 911. She tells the dispatcher that Nichols is in her apartment.

Within minutes, a Gwinnett police SWAT team swarms outside Smith's apartment. Nichols holds out a white piece of cloth and surrenders. Smith was watching from behind a van parked across the parking lot.

Sunday night, after recounting her time with Nichols, Smith said she believes there was some purpose to his finding her.

"I believe God brought him to my door so he couldn't hurt anyone else," she said.

[Ksyrup]

Among the things that stand out in that article about the security problems:

1. "Policies allow one deputy to escort as many as four inmates at a time."

Wow. Maybe that's SOP, and not all of them would be unhandcuffed at the same time, but geez. I would think it at least possible that 4 muscular men, even handcuffed, could manage to overcome one deputy in a coordinated attack.

2. "In the detention center of the Justice Center Tower, at least eight deputies took the elevator to the eighth floor on their way to Barnes' court."

Not one of them thought to take the stairs?!

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Good point. Even Jeb Ames and Willie Joe Garr thought to guard the stairs so Julie Grey couldn't get away.

Still watching those Dallas DVD's, eh?

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Not one of them thought to take the stairs?!

Good point. Even Jeb Ames and Willie Joe Garr thought to guard the stairs so Julie Grey couldn't get away.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

Still watching those Dallas DVD's, eh?

[Ben E Lou]

From Neal Nuze this morning. Priceless...

Originally Posted by Neal Boortz

THE 26-HOUR REIGN OF MURDER AND TERROR

By now most of you are aware of what happened here in Atlanta last Friday. A man on trial for rape escapes from a deputy sheriff in the courthouse, kills a judge, a court stenographer and a deputy sheriff. Hours later he kills an off-duty U.S. Customs Agent. He's captured the next day after holding a remarkable young woman named Ashley Smith in her apartment for hours. Here's a little Q&A to fill you in on some details:

How did Brian Nichols get the gun in the first place?

He overpowered a 51-year-old female deputy sheriff. Alone she escorted him into a holding area where she took off his handcuffs so that he could change into street clothes for trial.

There seem to be a lot of details out there on how Nichols overpowered the deputy sheriff and got her gun.

That's because it was all caught on tape.

You mean there's a video?

Exactly. There was a surveillance camera in the holding area where the attack took place.

Was someone supposed to be monitoring the camera?

There were two officers in the command center who were supposed to be monitoring the surveillance cameras. If they were, they didn't see this attack. It would seem safe to assume that they weren't exactly paying close attention to the cameras.

Did the killer run from the courthouse after the shootings?

Now there's an interesting question. That's what everybody thought. After all, he did shoot and kill a Deputy Sheriff as he left the courthouse. Things got a bit confusing though during a Friday afternoon press conference when Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman said that he "allegedly" ran from the courthouse. Allegedly? But then, the Sheriff used the "allegedly" word about six times in every sentence during his statements to the press. We may have questions about the abilities of the Sheriff of Fulton County and about his employees who protect the courthouse, but we now know that he sure does have a handle on the "allegedly" word.

Were citizens alerted to be on the lookout for a particular type of car?

Yes ... we were told all day Friday to be looking for a specific green Honda Accord.

Did they ever find the Honda?

Yup.

Where was the green Honda Accord?

It was right there in the parking garage next to the Courthouse. Right where the killer left it, and right smack in the middle of the largest concentration of law enforcement officers at that time in the entire Southeast. It took them 13 hours to find that Honda in the parking garage.

Did a police officer or sheriff's deputy finally find the Honda?

Nope. It was discovered by a co-worker of the Honda's owner late in the afternoon.

So, how did the killer flee the area?

Apparently he took MARTA, the rapid rail line, and headed North to Lenox Square.

Well, if he took MARTA, why didn't they catch him as he was getting on or getting off a train? Surely they took steps to watch MARTA stations for the killer as soon as the shootings happened, didn't they?

Uhhhhhh ... no, they didn't.

Why not?

Because they were too busy looking for the green Honda that was ...

...still parked in the courthouse parking garage, right?

Yup. The Honda seemed to be their entire focus. No need to be searching or watching MARTA stations. The Atlanta police chief, Richard Pennington, told the media: "We still thought he was still in the car. We had no reason to close down MARTA."

Where did Brian Nichols head then?

Apparently he got off the MARTA train at the Lenox Square Station. He certainly would have been a lot less conspicuous there than he would have been in Doraville.

What did he do next?

He accosted a woman on Lenox Road and forced her into her apartment. Her boyfriend was there. Nichols and the boyfriend got into a scuffle and Nichols ran.

Was this reported to police?

Yes, the woman and her boyfriend called 911 to report the incident.

And then?

Apparently the Atlanta police didn't make much of it. There's no indication that they made any connection to the courthouse murders. This incident happens within walking distance of a rapid rail station. Police could logically believe that a man, on foot, who accosts a resident near a rapid rail station might have arrived on a train from downtown. No special attention is paid to this report.

What does Nichols do next?

It would seem that he wandered around the Lenox Road area for a while until he came upon off-duty U.S. Customs Agent David Wilhelm. Wilhelm was working on a home he was building in the area. Nichols killed him and stole his truck.

When did police discover that Wilhelm had been killed?

A carpenter showed up at the house at 6:30 a.m., found the body and called the cops.

Where was Nichols at that point?

He had driven to Duluth, North of Atlanta, where, at two in the morning, he encountered Ashley Smith getting out of her car at an apartment complex. He forced her into her apartment. Ashley Smith, as it turns out, is a rather remarkable 26-year-old. Here's your link to read the remarkable story of what happened in Smith's apartment. In short, after almost eight hours he lets her go. As she is leaving the apartment Nichols hands Smith $40 he has in his pocket, telling her that he wouldn't be needing the money. He also asks here if there is anything he can do around the apartment, like hanging pictures or curtains, while she's gone. Smith leaves, calls 911, the SWAT team arrives, and Nichols surrenders.

Is there a reward for information leading to Nichol's arrest and conviction?

About $60,000, last I heard.

Who will get it?

Should it be anyone other than Ashley Smith? I don't think so.