J
USA wrote:
> What is more disgusting than having women serving on police forces is
> the fact that no one in the media will admit the obvious -- that this
> female (like all females) was unable to control her gun or to control
> the prisoner and as a result other people she was supposedly
> "protecting" were killed.
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Three Shot Dead at Ga. Trial; Gunman Flees
>
> By HARRY WEBER, Associated Press Writer
>
> ATLANTA - A man being escorted into court for his rape trial Friday
> stole a deputy's gun, killed the judge and two other people and
> carjacked a reporter's vehicle to escape, setting off a massive
> manhunt and creating widespread chaos across Atlanta, police said.
>
> Hundreds of officers in cruisers and helicopters swarmed the area in
> the search of the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Brian Nichols.
He
> had been on trial for rape, burglary and other charges stemming from
> an August incident involving an ex-girlfriend.
>
> The rampage led to chaos around the city, with schools, restaurants
> and office buildings locking down amid fears that the suspect might
> strike again. Nichols' mug shot was plastered all over TV screens,
and
> highway message boards issued descriptions of the stolen vehicle.
>
> "Mr. Nichols is considered armed and extremely dangerous and should
> not be approached," Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman said. "We are
> not going to rest until we find him."
>
> Nichols got the gun by overpowering the female deputy while he was
> being led down a corridor in the Fulton County Courthouse, Assistant
> Police Chief Alan Dreher said. After shooting the deputy in the face,
> the suspect then went to the courtroom, held about a dozen people at
> bay for a short time and shot and killed the judge and a court
> reporter, he said.
>
> Another deputy was later killed outside the Atlanta courthouse when
he
> confronted the suspect, Dreher said. The deputy shot while leading
> Nichols to court survived, but details about her condition were not
> immediately known.
>
> Authorities said Nichols then pistol-whipped a reporter for The
> Atlanta Journal-Constitution, stole his green 1997 Honda Accord and
> sped away.
>
> "When he had the gun in my face, you start to think, `How can I stay
> alive.' I thought this was a routine carjack. I didn't know two
people
> other were killed," said Don O'Briant, a features writer for the
> paper.
>
> Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor confirmed that Superior Court Judge Rowland
> Barnes and his court reporter were among the dead.
>
> The shootings occurred after the judge and prosecutors had requested
> extra security for deputies after investigators found a shank in each
> of Nichols' shoes Thursday, prosecutor Gayle Abramson said. She said
> Nichols apparently fashioned the shanks from a door knob.
>
> Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he did not know what
> exactly was done in the way of stepped-up security, but said the
> deputies were receptive to their request. Dreher said that there were
> no other officers other than the female deputy assisting with taking
> Nichols to court. The law requires that defendants on trial not be
> handcuffed as they enter the courtroom, to make sure the sight of
> cuffs doesn't unfairly influence the jury.
>
> The shootings occurred shortly after 9 a.m. Friday - the fourth day
of
> Nichols' trial. Nichols had been facing a re-trial on charges of
rape,
> sodomy, burglary, and false imprisonment, among others, after his
> earlier trial ended in a hung jury a week ago.
>
> "I think he probably realized ... he might be convicted this time, he
> might not have a chance to walk out," Howard said. "We believe he
came
> here with the intent to make sure that didn't happen."
>
> In the rape case, Nichols was accused of bursting into his
> ex-girlfriend's home, binding her with duct tape and sexually
> assaulting her over three days. Howard said Nichols brought a loaded
> machine gun into the home and a cooler with food in case he was
> hungry.
>
> Nichols, who had been jailed for the last six months, had faced a
> possible life prison sentence if convicted for rape.
>
> More than 100 state troopers and officers from several agencies,
> including the FBI (news - web sites), were assisting in the search,
> but there were few leads, said G.D. Stiles, a Fulton County deputy
> chief. Offers of help from officers on their days off were pouring
in.
>
> Telephone and e-mail requests for comment to Nichols' attorney, Barry
> M. Hazen, were not immediately returned Friday.
>
>
>
> Barnes was known for his personable approach to justice and his sense
> of humor, and members of Georgia's legal community expressed shock by
> the news.
>
> Among the recent cases that Barnes handled was the sentencing of
> Atlanta Thrashers player Dany Heatley, who pleaded guilty to
vehicular
> homicide in the death of a teammate.
>
> Barnes, 64, also drew national attention last month when he approved
a
> plea deal that required a mother of seven who pleaded guilty to
> killing her 5-week-old daughter to have a medical procedure that
would
> prevent her from having more children.
>
> "We're shook to the core," said Linda Dreyer, a longtime employee in
> the court administrator's office who knew Barnes.
>
> "This is a profound shock. It's so unthinkable, it's like a 9-11 at
> the courthouse," said fellow Judge Craig Schwall.
>
> James Bailey, a juror at Nichols' trial, said the jury was not in the
> courtroom at the time of the shooting. He said Nichols had made him
> and other jurors nervous. "Every time he looked up, he was staring at
> you," Bailey said.
FYI
Hank
> What is more disgusting than having women serving on police forces is
> the fact that no one in the media will admit the obvious -- that this
> female (like all females) was unable to control her gun or to control
> the prisoner and as a result other people she was supposedly
> "protecting" were killed.
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Three Shot Dead at Ga. Trial; Gunman Flees
>
> By HARRY WEBER, Associated Press Writer
>
> ATLANTA - A man being escorted into court for his rape trial Friday
> stole a deputy's gun, killed the judge and two other people and
> carjacked a reporter's vehicle to escape, setting off a massive
> manhunt and creating widespread chaos across Atlanta, police said.
>
> Hundreds of officers in cruisers and helicopters swarmed the area in
> the search of the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Brian Nichols.
He
> had been on trial for rape, burglary and other charges stemming from
> an August incident involving an ex-girlfriend.
>
> The rampage led to chaos around the city, with schools, restaurants
> and office buildings locking down amid fears that the suspect might
> strike again. Nichols' mug shot was plastered all over TV screens,
and
> highway message boards issued descriptions of the stolen vehicle.
>
> "Mr. Nichols is considered armed and extremely dangerous and should
> not be approached," Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman said. "We are
> not going to rest until we find him."
>
> Nichols got the gun by overpowering the female deputy while he was
> being led down a corridor in the Fulton County Courthouse, Assistant
> Police Chief Alan Dreher said. After shooting the deputy in the face,
> the suspect then went to the courtroom, held about a dozen people at
> bay for a short time and shot and killed the judge and a court
> reporter, he said.
>
> Another deputy was later killed outside the Atlanta courthouse when
he
> confronted the suspect, Dreher said. The deputy shot while leading
> Nichols to court survived, but details about her condition were not
> immediately known.
>
> Authorities said Nichols then pistol-whipped a reporter for The
> Atlanta Journal-Constitution, stole his green 1997 Honda Accord and
> sped away.
>
> "When he had the gun in my face, you start to think, `How can I stay
> alive.' I thought this was a routine carjack. I didn't know two
people
> other were killed," said Don O'Briant, a features writer for the
> paper.
>
> Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor confirmed that Superior Court Judge Rowland
> Barnes and his court reporter were among the dead.
>
> The shootings occurred after the judge and prosecutors had requested
> extra security for deputies after investigators found a shank in each
> of Nichols' shoes Thursday, prosecutor Gayle Abramson said. She said
> Nichols apparently fashioned the shanks from a door knob.
>
> Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he did not know what
> exactly was done in the way of stepped-up security, but said the
> deputies were receptive to their request. Dreher said that there were
> no other officers other than the female deputy assisting with taking
> Nichols to court. The law requires that defendants on trial not be
> handcuffed as they enter the courtroom, to make sure the sight of
> cuffs doesn't unfairly influence the jury.
>
> The shootings occurred shortly after 9 a.m. Friday - the fourth day
of
> Nichols' trial. Nichols had been facing a re-trial on charges of
rape,
> sodomy, burglary, and false imprisonment, among others, after his
> earlier trial ended in a hung jury a week ago.
>
> "I think he probably realized ... he might be convicted this time, he
> might not have a chance to walk out," Howard said. "We believe he
came
> here with the intent to make sure that didn't happen."
>
> In the rape case, Nichols was accused of bursting into his
> ex-girlfriend's home, binding her with duct tape and sexually
> assaulting her over three days. Howard said Nichols brought a loaded
> machine gun into the home and a cooler with food in case he was
> hungry.
>
> Nichols, who had been jailed for the last six months, had faced a
> possible life prison sentence if convicted for rape.
>
> More than 100 state troopers and officers from several agencies,
> including the FBI (news - web sites), were assisting in the search,
> but there were few leads, said G.D. Stiles, a Fulton County deputy
> chief. Offers of help from officers on their days off were pouring
in.
>
> Telephone and e-mail requests for comment to Nichols' attorney, Barry
> M. Hazen, were not immediately returned Friday.
>
>
>
> Barnes was known for his personable approach to justice and his sense
> of humor, and members of Georgia's legal community expressed shock by
> the news.
>
> Among the recent cases that Barnes handled was the sentencing of
> Atlanta Thrashers player Dany Heatley, who pleaded guilty to
vehicular
> homicide in the death of a teammate.
>
> Barnes, 64, also drew national attention last month when he approved
a
> plea deal that required a mother of seven who pleaded guilty to
> killing her 5-week-old daughter to have a medical procedure that
would
> prevent her from having more children.
>
> "We're shook to the core," said Linda Dreyer, a longtime employee in
> the court administrator's office who knew Barnes.
>
> "This is a profound shock. It's so unthinkable, it's like a 9-11 at
> the courthouse," said fellow Judge Craig Schwall.
>
> James Bailey, a juror at Nichols' trial, said the jury was not in the
> courtroom at the time of the shooting. He said Nichols had made him
> and other jurors nervous. "Every time he looked up, he was staring at
> you," Bailey said.
FYI
Hank