Posted on 03/15/2005 8:03:13 AM PST by mhking
Police apparently missed an opportunity to trap Brian G. Nichols in a downtown parking garage just minutes after Friday's courthouse shooting spree — the first of several lost chances to catch him that day. Two attendants at Five Points Garage said they heard a sport utility vehicle driven by Nichols smash through the gate and screech into the garage. Atlanta police units were just seconds behind. The attendants said they twice tried to show officers how to block the only exits from the garage at Wall and Peachtree streets, three blocks from the Fulton County Courthouse. Instead, a motorcycle officer and two squad cars sped into the structure after Nichols, leaving no one to watch for him at street level. Seconds later, Nichols calmly walked down a stairwell and out of the garage with two handguns tucked in his pants, the attendants said Monday. "He kept looking back to the steps," said attendant Frank Holston. A second attendant confirmed the story but would not give his name. Police asked, " 'Which way did he go?' " Holston recalled. "I told them this is the only way he can get out, down here, but they didn't listen. They could have gotten him here, but they didn't. All of them went up behind him." Atlanta police spokesman John Quigley said he was unaware of the exchange but said the department would review its actions at the garage. The attendants said they had not been questioned by police as of Monday. Police were chasing Nichols, who was being tried on rape charges, after Friday morning's shooting spree that left a judge, a court reporter and a sheriff's deputy dead. As he escaped from Five Points Garage, Nichols allegedly hijacked a tow truck on Peachtree Street. Within minutes, he allegedly carjacked at least two more vehicles, pistol-whipping one car's owner. More than 12 hours later, authorities say, he pistol-whipped another man and shot to death a federal agent. Busy hunting for green car The day was marked by a series of close calls and missed opportunities for police in their desperate search for a dangerous suspect. Authorities were thrown off the trail for most of the day when they started looking for a green Honda Accord that was stolen from an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter. More than 12 hours later, police learned the car had never left the parking garage across from CNN Center. Nichols then most likely boarded MARTA at the CNN Center transit station, police said. He probably traveled one stop east to the Five Points station and then took the North Line to the Lenox station, police said. As Nichols apparently was catching the train, MARTA police were being pulled from the Five Points station to respond to the emergency at the courthouse, transit police said. Two hours later, at 11:31 a.m., Atlanta and MARTA police received a report that a man matching Nichols' description — wearing a blue blazer and no shirt — was walking near Lenox Squaremall, said MARTA Police Chief Gene Wilson. Police canvassed the area without success. Wilson, whose transit police were assisting Atlanta police, now believes it was Nichols near the mall. "With the information we have now it looks like a damn good lead," Wilson said. But police did not dwell on the Lenox area. "Again, we're thinking he's in a car miles away." Nearly 11 hours later, shortly after 10 p.m., Nichols allegedly held a woman at gunpoint and pistol-whipped her boyfriend at a Lenox Road apartment one block south of the mall. Police responded and a report says the couple and a third person believed the attacker was Nichols but were not sure. Quigley said several more Atlanta police and federal agents converged on the scene and remained until about midnight. The next morning, the body of federal customs agent David Wilhelm was found shot to death in a home he owned. It was a block away from the Lenox Road apartment. Wilhelm's pickup truck was stolen and driven to Gwinnett County, where Nichols allegedly held hostage a woman at about 2 a.m. He surrendered the next morning in her apartment. Who was in charge? It is still unclear which law enforcement agency was in charge of the manhunt. Quigley said Atlanta police "were the lead agency in investigating the homicide," but he stopped short of saying the department was coordinating the search for Nichols. Quigley acknowledged that the manhunt was led astray by the assumption that Nichols had fled in a green Honda. "Obviously, we were duped," he said. The Honda was found more than 12 hours later on a lower level of the garage. Police then looked at security videotape to discover Nichols had walked out — wearing a stolen blue blazer. Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington has said that police "were not thorough" in canvassing the garage where the Honda was parked. The department was chasing reports of carjackings, which stopped at the garage. "No one else reported a car taken — he was taking cars," Quigley said. They didn't think to look for him on foot. "Once you look through a different prism you see other things," Quigley said. "You broaden your spectrum and are open to other alternatives. "At the same time, we're getting hundreds and hundreds of tips and we're chasing them." He said Pennington has said "he will go back and review how things transpired. You can always improve things." — Staff writer Saeed Ahmed contributed to this article.
I remember Atlanta: Grant park where you could picnic or play unmolested. The Cyclorama, a great depiction of the battle of Atlanta. Tree lined streets. Slow summer days. My grandfather lived there with his third family. What happened? Now I hate to even have to drive through Atlanta on my way to Gulf Shores. There is no real speed limit, and you take your life in your hands on the Interstates, and you have a looooong trip if you try to drive on the city streets. Is there a peach tree anywhere near Peachtree Street?
a peach tree anywhere near Peachtree? probably so, in someone's back yard. hard to keep healthy though, with pests and polution.
We still like our Peachtree...street, road, industrial blvd, way, battle, ford, creek, new peachtree, old peachtree....
Atlanta's got its good points, it's a lovely city with lots of green trees, and nice folks who are smart and sophisticated. Which is why this keystone cop situation is so embarrassing. I hope the city government gets a good, good spanking.
Yep, too brainwashed to speak the truth. That's a soundbite that will go down in history. Too bad good people had to die for this PC BS. Prayers for the victims.
Every time I ask "can it get any worse?", it does. Keeping my mouth shut.
"It was a block away from the Lenox Road apartment. "
One block. One f'n block in an aera with new home construction. Planty of hiding places. But the chose to discount the report.
Put them on trial as accomplices.
"The Atlanta police should have thought outside the box."
You are right, but acting on "How to I get to Lenox Square?" is not out of the box. They couldn't get the damned box open.
Haha...I'm sorry it's just funny to hear the words "MARTA" and "smart move" in the same sentence. It's quite a surprise that MARTA was so effective for a murderer, yet when I took it to Hartsfield Airport from North Springs (about a 25 minute drive) it took 2 hours!
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Yep. Eleven women with "heart" will beat the New England Patriots every time.
PC and the death of common sense are killing people at an increasingly rapid rate.
"It is still unclear which law enforcement agency was in charge of the manhunt."
OKAY...now it's official. This is the worst example of law emforcement imcompetence ever. I take it back...anybody ever seen that terrorist training RENO 911 episode....lol
I would hate to deliver mail or drive a cab in Atlanta. Now let's see which peachtree street would that be on?
"Did they sound like THIS!?!"
lauging my ass off on this one....got any THREE STOOGES sounds....yuk yuk yuk....somehow those sounds seem appropriate as well....lol
All Nichols had to do to get away was to run on Peachtree Street. The cops wouldn't which street that was.
By the way Mr. King. You were great on O'Reilly last night. So proud to see a Freeper on National Tele.
Wilhelm never needed to die.
Sick and sad but true.
Just heard Fox reporter say they had no less than 16 guards on him in court today. Guess they've learned something anyway. A lesson learned too late though.
What do you expect from the Police? After all, they aren't generally expected to perform this type of service, therefore they don't train for it. Their time is better served enhancing the local government's revenues and busting the evil dopers!
I dunno, but my interpretation of the bible is that God can makes good things happen from bad situations, but doesn't make bad things happen (which is actually the result of sinful men making bad decisions.) Yes, he hardened pharoah's heart in the old testament, but that was the OT, a different era. It just seems so much more consistent with the bible to view it as satan is sometimes allowed to do things (using people, their decisions, and temptation to entice their decisions), but God doesn't make it happen.
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