Bro kills Judge takes hostages and on the run

[Pamalicious]

Okayyyy - he's decided to go out like a champ I suppose - *smh*

WSBTV.com
Judge Fatally Shot, Three Wounded
Massive Search Underway for Gunman

POSTED: 9:29 am EST March 11, 2005
UPDATED: 10:35 am EST March 11, 2005

ATLANTA -- A Fulton County judge was fatally wounded and three others were shot Friday at the Fulton courthouse before the suspect fled from the scene and carjacked a newspaper reporter.


Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes was pronounced dead after he was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment.


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Police were conducting a massive search for the suspect, who fled in a vehicle described as a gray Mercury Sable or a green Honda Accord. Authorities identified him as Brian Nichols, 34.


The other victims, said to be a court reporter and two sheriff's deputies, were also rushed to Grady, but their conditions were not immediately available.

A reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was also injured during the incident.

Authorities said the reporter, identified as Don O'Briant, was pistol-whipped and assaulted while the suspect was trying to get away.

The AJC reporter was taken to the hospital but his condition was not immediately available. The suspect apparently fled in the reporter's car.

The assailant was described as a tall black male with a bald head. Authorities said the suspect grabbed a gun from the deputy inside the courthouse before opening fire. The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. at the courthouse, located in downtown Atlanta.


The suspect then fled to a nearby parking garage and attempted to carjack two people. The assailant managed to get the vehicle from a third victim before leaving the area.

Police have shut down several streets in the area while they looked for the suspect.

An attorney who witnessed this morning's shooting told Channel 2 Action News that Barnes was hearing a rape case at the time of the shooting.

The rape trial had ended in a mistrial last week. It was not immediately clear if Nichols was involved in the case.

Renee Rockwall said she was outside the courthouse when the incident happened. She said she saw a deputy chasing the suspect when the gunman turned and opened fire, wounding the deputy.

wsbtv.com Staff Writer Alfred Charles and Channel 2 Action News reporters Ross Cavitt, Alan Wang and Dale Cardwell contributed to this report.
Copyright 2005 by WSBTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Tastey]

So he went to court to shoot the judge???

That's effed up.

[FAMU]

If I was going to jail for the rest of my life, if I had nothing to lose, no money, no job, no woman, etc. I would be just like this brother. If I got to go out, then all yall going to know my name!

[seductive_tee]

Amazing that he even got out the court house.

Where were all the police that are in the court house?

[2Hard4u]

If I was going to jail for the rest of my life, if I had nothing to lose, no money, no job, no woman, etc. I would be just like this brother. If I got to go out, then all yall going to know my name!



Didn't I just read a post with you saying, u love Jesus. Now, u are condoning take a life?

Well, nevermind, David Koresh, Jim Jones and the KKK, said they love Jesus also.

[sistuhchey]

out of harms way....an explosion...of some sorts...maybe errupting.... :blast

[jaila]

out of harms way....an explosion...of some sorts...maybe errupting.... :blast


hold up chey...im right behind you LOL :D :D

[ERinger]

This story has my out of town family calling to see if I'm okay. Now, three dead, one injured. Honestly, it's a bit frightening. This man really has nothing to lose. He's still on the loose. Police/state patrol are on every expressway. No one knows where he is. His girlfriend just had a baby yesterday, and she's under police watch at the hospital where my mother works. I'll just feel a lot better when they catch this man, but I know when they do, it's gonna be a shoot out.

[Andre98]

All I'm thinking is, this is going to be a referendum on a lot of things, because the lapse in security is classic human error, and it will make them take everything more seriously all over the penal systems. I hope the first sherriff's deputy that was shot in the face recovers alright and doesn't carry the burden of making it look like all female guards should be considered weak links. She probably knew she shouldn't have been left alone, but that's how it fell into place at the last minute and she probably felt the pressure to not complain or the guys will think she's weak. I bet he was all docile and charming to her, yakking it up about blahsie blah-blah just before he struck, that's the sly animal that most predators are.

I know if I was in Atlanta, I would keep my black ass off the street, with 65 grand riding on this joker's head? And all the gun toters thinking every homie looks alike? That Black section of Atlanta I drove through south of the HBCUs I wouldnt recognize him from anybody else if he came up to my car trying to wash the windshield. He was spotted going north, and they found the car not far away at all.

I hope he's not holding anybody hostage, because I can't see what friend of his would want to be harboring him willingly. If he called me, I'd tell him he has two choices, turn himself in, or shoot himself, and he might want to think long and hard about the merits of the second choice. His life isn't worth a plug nickel.

[sistuhchey]

poor innocent...folks...fricckin court reporter.....damn...

so maybe all violent defendants should be hand-cuffed...untill they're seated???

Hell, I don't know how it is...in other federal buildings...but you can't easily escape...without going thru some sort of guarded security system...and a lot of courts are held on various floors..there's elevators, stairs...and the po-po every where...he just so happen to by pass all this...and stage left...reporters car...right there???

somebody truly wasn't on their JOB to let him escape........so...Dre'...you think...he put on the charm...and caught the baliff off guard.....and overpowered her??

[sistuhchey]

I bet he was all docile and charming to her, yakking it up about blahsie blah-blah just before he struck, that's the sly animal that most predators are.




....yea...I'm glad my baby no longer resides in Atlanta....Hope all Atlanta husherssssss...are safe...

[sistuhchey]

oh boyyyyyyyyy....

[ERinger]

I have a problem with the police believing that they really did something. They couldn't find this man until he wanted them to. He actually took MARTA to the Lenox area in plain sight. He killed another Customs Agent and held a woman hostage. He let the woman go, knowing that she would call the police, and basically waited until they got there and surrendered. The police, FBI, ATF all looked like asses because they didn't know where he was for about 12 hours.

[Pamalicious]

I have a problem with the police believing that they really did something. They couldn't find this man until he wanted them to. He actually took MARTA to the Lenox area in plain sight. He killed another Customs Agent and held a woman hostage. He let the woman go, knowing that she would call the police, and basically waited until they got there and surrendered. The police, FBI, ATF all looked like asses because they didn't know where he was for about 12 hours.

Heads are gonna roll and the finger pointing has started already. The Fiance who said he raped her now says they had consensual sex, even though he did hold her prisioner.

He was wrong as two left feet - but it made for good television as evidenced by ALL THE TV WE COULD HANDLE for Atlanta this weekend.

My thing was, at first they gave this vague description that went something like: blackman, 6 feet, 200lbs, mean look on his face - which basically is just about every blackman in Atlanta, lol I wanted to be around when they smoked all these brothas out - cause there had to have been a date in there somewhere, lol lol

[ERinger]

What's really funny is that in person/live on television he looked nothing like that picture they flashed a million times on tv this weekend. He was acutally kinda cute.

[MndBdySoul]

Didn't they end up finding the Green Honda people were looking for on the lower deck of the parking garage of the courthouse? *smh*

[Tastey]

I have a problem with the police believing that they really did something. They couldn't find this man until he wanted them to. He actually took MARTA to the Lenox area in plain sight. He killed another Customs Agent and held a woman hostage. He let the woman go, knowing that she would call the police, and basically waited until they got there and surrendered. The police, FBI, ATF all looked like asses because they didn't know where he was for about 12 hours.

I agree with you there. He actually could have and would have gotten away if he'd truly wanted to.

[MndBdySoul]

Has anyone watched the hostage's interview? Does anyone else get the feeling that she is lying? It seems to me like he already knew her. I mean, she had an opprotunity to escape, when she FOLLOWED HIM in her car, he in that Custom Agent's truck, to dump it. Why didn't she call 911 then? Hell my car would have been doing 90 mph, flashing lights and some of everything else trying to get away from him. Then, they get back, she cooks him breakfast. She keeps claiming she had no fear at all... how could you not? This man is a wanted fugitive, killed 4 people and on trial for a brutal rape. Before she left the SECOND time, she asks him does he need any money. She's already hired an attorney for possible movie and book deals. She can't even manage to cry or be upset. She's trying too, but it comes off being so fake. Maybe it's just the conspiracist in me, but something ain't right.

[Pamalicious]

I'm still trying to get past her - "I was a Savior to a blackman" mentality. He made her pancakes from scratch?! LOL LOL

She's corny!

[seductive_tee]

i heard she cooked breakfast.

This whole story is amazing to me.

I see a book, movie, Lifetime, Oprah, Larry King and then some.

He'll be the hero of the prison.

[Pamalicious]

She made them for him

Ga. Woman Held Hostage Describes Ordeal

11 minutes ago U.S. National - AP


By DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA - For hours, Ashley Smith gently talked to the armed suspect in Atlanta's courthouse slayings, turning from hostage to confidant as they discussed God, family, pancakes and the massive manhunt going on outside her apartment.



"I believe God brought him to my door," Smith said Sunday, only hours after her 911 call ended a manhunt for Brian Nichols, who is accused of shooting four people since Friday.


Over the course of the night, Nichols untied Smith, and some of the fear lessened as they talked. Nichols told Smith he felt like "he was already dead," but Smith urged him to consider the fact that he was still alive a "miracle."


"You're here in my apartment for some reason," she told him, saying he might be destined to be caught and to spread the word of God to fellow prisoners. She told him his escape from authorities had been a "miracle."


Smith, 33, later called 911 after she was freed, and police soon surrounded her suburban apartment complex. Nichols gave up peacefully, waving a white towel in surrender.


"I honestly think when I looked at him that he didn't want to do it anymore," Smith said. If he did not give up, she told him, "Lots more people are probably going get hurt and you're probably going to die."


Police said they were impressed by the way Smith handled herself.


"She acted very cool and levelheaded. We don't normally see that in our profession," said Gwinnett County Police Officer Darren Moloney. "It was an absolutely best-case scenario that happened, a complete opposite of what you expected to happen. We were prepared for the worst and got the best."


The crime spree began when Nichols allegedly overpowered a courthouse deputy escorting him to his rape trial Friday and took the deputy's gun, then killed the presiding judge and court reporter. He also is accused of killing a deputy who tried to stop him outside the courthouse and a federal agent during his flight from authorities.


Smith said her ordeal began around 2 a.m. Saturday morning with Nichols sticking a gun in her side in the parking lot of her apartment when she returned from a store.


He tied her up and told her to sit in the bathroom while he took a shower. "He said, `I'm not going to hurt you if you just do what I say,'" she said. He told her: "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody else."


Choking back tears Sunday, she said she told Nichols that her husband died four years ago and if he hurt her, her little girl wouldn't have a mother or father. Smith's attorney, Josh Archer, said her husband died in her arms after being stabbed.


The two talked about the Bible and she handed him photos of her family. When morning came, Nichols was "overwhelmed" when Smith made him pancakes with real butter, she said. He told her he "just wanted some normalness to his life," she said.


The two watched television news reports about the slayings and the manhunt. "I cannot believe that's me on there," Smith quoted Nichols as saying.


When Nichols finally let Smith go to see her 5-year-old daughter, he said he wanted to stay at the apartment for a few more days. She said she thought he knew she was going to call 911 after she left.


Nichols could appear in federal court as early as Monday to face a charge of possession of a firearm by a person under indictment, the charge authorities are using to keep Nichols in custody while they sort out charging in the slayings, said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias.


The Fulton County District Attorney's Office hopes to formally charge Nichols with the new crimes within 30 days, spokesman Erik Friedly said Sunday. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard still would like to resolve Nichols' interrupted rape retrial.





The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday that a courthouse surveillance camera recorded Nichols' initial surprise attack on Deputy Cynthia Hall but that no one in the control center noticed the assault.

"It's not just horrible, it was preventable," Senior Superior Court Judge Philip Etheridge told the newspaper.

A video camera, which is supposed to be monitored by two guards in a command post, shows Nichols and the deputy arriving in the holding area between two courtrooms, according to a law enforcement official who saw the tape. The video shows Hall guiding Nichols, whose hands are still handcuffed behind his back, into one of two open cells.

Hall releases one cuff and turns Nichols around to unhook the remaining cuff. But the muscular, 33-year-old Nichols then lunges at Hall, knocking the petite, 51-year-old grandmother backward into another cell. Both disappear from camera view. 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 in the cell.

A few minutes later, he emerges in civilian clothes. He locks the door behind him and calmly walks out of the holding area, carrying the gun belt, according to the official who saw the tape.

Judge Etheridge said Hall should not have been alone with Nichols, a former college linebacker who had been found with two sharpened door hinges in his socks earlier in the week.

Hall remained in critical condition Sunday, Grady Memorial Hospital officials said. Killed were Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, Sgt. Hoyt Teasley and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent David Wilhelm.

[Tastey]

She handled it probably the way I would have. The only way to stay alive in those types of situations is to stay calm and non threatening.

By cooking him breakfast, she gained his trust, which allowed her to leave.

Smart lady.

[seductive_tee]

Very smart lady.........who is also 60,000 richer.

You know that she witnessed her husband stabbed to death.

[Tastey]

I saw her interview with Matt Lauer and she said she read to him from the Purpose Driven Life.

Nothing but God at work.

[jaila]

ok imma go on and say dis....another fine black man gone to waste *sigh*

the end of the story is wild and im sure we will hear more. I was glued to the tv during the search thinking i hope he doesn't flee north. not because of fear but becasue keeblers in my area are nuts. there was a few chico's on the loose one day and i had a woman tell me she was petrified and had her house locked up cause mexicans was runnin loose. Nothing but comedy at ignant ass keeblers.

[sistuhchey]

She handled it probably the way I would have. The only way to stay alive in those types of situations is to stay calm and non threatening.

By cooking him breakfast, she gained his trust, which allowed her to leave.

Smart lady.




I hope she gets the reward....

[ERinger]

I can't say that I blame these folks. Who's to say he won't try something again, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that courtroom.

Potential jurors skipping Nichols trial
Less than one-third show up for duty in second day of selection process

By BETH WARREN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 01/12/07

Less than one-third of potential jurors summoned in the death-penalty case of accused Fulton County Courthouse gunman Brian Nichols showed up today to fill out questionnaires.

In Day Two of the long process of selecting a jury, only about 60 people were in their seats at the general assembly room on time at 9:15 a.m., with another 170 showing up later. That's still just a fraction of the 700 summoned today. On Thursday, only about 250 showed up.

Court officials are aiming for a record-high jury pool in order to weed out the many who may have already formed opinions in a case that has been the focus of extensive local and national news reports. More than 100 reporters from across the country are expected to cover the trial.

Nichols' entire defense team came to court today along with a jury consultant.

The consultant kept a watchful eye today over the sea of prospective jurors and is expected to pour over their responses to some personal questions, including one asking whether they believe racial tensions in Atlanta have lessened or worsened in the past 10 years. The entire jury selection process is expected to last for about three months, with the trial stretching into the summer.

Defense attorneys say they plan on filing a motion soon to use a mental health defense in the March 11, 2005 fatal shootings of a judge, court reporter, deputy at the courthouse and later a federal agent in Buckhead, according to court filings this week.

Chris Rowell, a minister Word of God Christian Center in Suwanee, where Nichols used to attend church, has previously testified that Nichols told him in August, 2004:

"There is a demon inside me . . . and it's getting very powerful. I don't know what I'm capable of doing."

A day later, Nichols' ex-girlfriend, who is black, says he broke into her Sandy Springs home, held her at gunpoint, bound her with duct tape, raped her and threatened to kill her family.

After his arrest for the courthouse shootings, police claim Nichols, who is black, told them he felt like "a soldier on a mission" railing against a justice system that is unfair to African-Americans.

[Andre98]

This time they are going to have him in that Silence of The Lambs get up. They are not goingto let that happen again, at least, not with the same dude. The thing is with the media crush, its going to be a circus, and they can avoid all that by letting him have some alone time with a belt or some strong shoelaces. Then we don't have to endure his ramblings about demons, and that being a Black man in America made him a psycho. Like that shit with the Long Island Railroad shooter years ago, letting him be his own counsel, questioning the very people he shot.