Georgia Courtroom Shooter Apprehended

Mark · Mar 12, 2005

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Brian Nichols, the suspect in the shootings of three people at Atlanta's Fulton County Courthouse, has been captured after a massive manhunt.

Nichols surrendered to authorities Saturday. Police said he had entered the apartment of a woman he didn't know and she managed to call 911 to report that he was there.

He was found in that apartment in the northern Atlanta suburb of Duluth, and gave up "without a struggle," said Maj. Edward Platt, with the Fulton County Sheriff's Department.

Police initially thought the woman in the apartment with Nichols might be a hostage, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said.

Authorities said later, however, that Nichols grabbed her as she was entering her apartment, but did not hold her hostage.

She was allowed to come out of the unit and speak with law enforcement officers shortly before Nichols surrendered.

Nichols was "not doing any talking," Pennington said.

The woman was being interviewed in an effort to determine the sequence of events in her encounter with Nichols, authorities said.

A blue pickup truck belonging to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent found slain Saturday was discovered at the scene, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Joe Green.

The pickup truck was spotted by Gwinnett County authorities apparently conducting a routine patrol, Platt said.

Police were watching the truck when the woman came out of her apartment and told them about Nichols. A SWAT team was summoned, along with FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, and Nichols eventually surrendered.

"I thought he was still in the area. I felt that he was. I've seen this happen so many times ... they feel comfortable (in their community)," Pennington told CNN.

But, he said, he was "somewhat surprised" Nichols surrendered without incident.

Police believe Nichols fatally shot Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Ann Brandau and sheriff's deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley after he overpowered deputy Cynthia Ann Hall and stole her gun while Hall was taking him from a detention area into Barnes' courtroom.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told CNN authorities were in the process of obtaining a federal arrest warrant so Nichols can be held while Atlanta police finish their investigation.

He was transported to FBI headquarters in Decatur, Georgia, in DeKalb County. If federal firearms charges are filed, he will appear before a magistrate sometime this afternoon in Atlanta, Green said.

The manhunt for Nichols, 33, was described as being the biggest in Georgia history.

Video footage showed Nichols being handcuffed and put into a dark-colored SUV by authorities.

Security camera images
Security camera images taken Friday inside the parking garage where police believe Nichols carjacked a newspaper reporter's car showed a shirtless Nichols putting on a jacket apparently taken from the reporter as he went to a lower level and disappeared.

The 1997 Honda Accord taken at gunpoint from the reporter in the minutes after the rape suspect fled the Fulton County Courthouse was found late Friday night in the same downtown Atlanta parking garage where it was carjacked 15 hours earlier.

Security camera images so far have not yielded clues as to how Nichols exited the parking garage or if he carjacked another vehicle.

A cousin described Nichols as "very lovable" and "laid-back." Reginald Small said the family is in shock.

"That's not the person that we know," Small said. "That's not the one that we love."

Timeline of shootings
The shootings happened about 9 a.m., as Nichols was being led into an eighth-floor courtroom, Dreher said.

Nichols was being retried on rape, false imprisonment and other charges after a first trial last week ended in a hung jury. The second trial began Monday.

Nichols apparently overpowered Hall in an elevator on their way to the courtroom, police said. Jeffrey Salamone, attending trauma surgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital, said she suffered a graze wound from a gunshot.

Salamone said Hall has a small bruise on her brain and some fractures around her face. She was in critical condition, but was expected to survive.

Once inside the courtroom, police said, Nichols held people in the room at bay briefly, then shot Judge Barnes and Brandau -- both of whom died at the scene.

Nichols then fled the building, where outside he shot Sgt. Teasley in the abdomen, officials said. The sheriff's deputy was pronounced dead at the hospital, Salamone said.

Courthouse security
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."

Scheib said deputies outside the courthouse told him that a knife-like weapon was discovered in Nichols' boot last week.

Fulton County State Court Judge Craig Schwall, however, described security at the courthouse as "phenomenal." Judges have their own private elevator, accessible only by key card, he said. Their chambers are heavily secured, he said, and they and other court officials have their own secure parking garage.

"I think that, as public servants, we all have to be mindful of these risks," Schwall said.

"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," said attorney B. J. Bernstein.
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Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/12/atla...ting/index.html

This guy is absolutely nuts. I'm glad they caught him.

CloserToCrawling · Mar 12, 2005

Whew! I'm so glad that he's caught now. Ever since he "ran away" like that, I've been a bit worried. Thanks for the news, Mark.

lp_sk8ergurl · Mar 13, 2005

Good thing they caught him.

Andrea · Mar 13, 2005

I've been following that whole story on the news. I'm glad he's caught.

Link · Mar 13, 2005

He deserves the worst.

Testament · Mar 13, 2005

Is that the judge who was working the Dany Heatley case?

Mark · Mar 13, 2005

Originally posted by Vanilla T@Mar 13 2005, 06:15 PM
Is that the judge who was working the Dany Heatley case?
Click to expand...

Chances are it wasn't.

Tomi · Mar 14, 2005

That's a relief to see him caught.

Testament · Mar 14, 2005

Originally posted by Mark+Mar 13 2005, 03:46 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Mark @ Mar 13 2005, 03:46 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Vanilla T@Mar 13 2005, 06:15 PM
Is that the judge who was working the Dany Heatley case?
Click to expand...

Chances are it wasn't. [/b][/quote]
Ah, Because I heard he was shot to death and one of a few victims. Well, whatever.

Evan™ · Mar 17, 2005

how does any1 attack security in a court of law....its ridiculous they let this happen.....but luckily tehy caught him

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