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 didnt say He made it happen, either. For instance, God used satan's trials against Job for a greater good. Job ended up with more than he had before after the trial. I think that God can use this situation to bring about good, in some form. Whether it be the Atlanta PD shrugging off PC reforms in favor of crime fighting that gets results, or Nichols being a witness in jail, or something else that none of us can even predict at this juncture, good will come of it.
'enhancing the local government's revenues'
Could you mean giving speeding tickets?
People should be jailed over this. Not just fired, but actual charges pressed against them, and stripped of being able to be in law enforcement again.
And no, I don't know what charges, except gross incompetence.
Except if he's on death row (a darn good chance) he won't see any other inmates.
But he has a chance to redeem himself, as much as no one wants to hear that.
And as a FReeper said on another thread, instead of talking about cold-blooded killing, once again we're talking about God and Jesus and the good works he does. Just like whe the uproar over The Passion was going on.
ping
Political Correctness run amok! It sounds like the Atlanta PD was running away from the killer.
I read that in the initial foot chase, all the deputies stopped to rended aid to the deputy was had been shot on the sidewalk while Nicholas was running away.
The guy on the newsconfrence was basically asked that exact question and that was his answer. How the hell do these people keep their jobs ?
"this shows how retarded the APD was in finding this predator."
Just the way Ted Turner likes it.
"Could you mean giving speeding tickets?"
Yep, but in all honesty I am not a resident of Atlanta so my statement is pure speculation which may not be accurate in any way.
Following your 'logic', then, if this happened a few million times more, 12 million people would be murdered and their families devastated but that would be a good thing because of the new converts to your religion.
The greater good and all that.
I think for years that locals have been telling the Atlanta authorities that the cops are simply not up to the task at hand. Half of the cops in town are bubba-wanna-be's...and simply hired "guards". You would have to fire almost half of the entire force to start the fix here...and they sure aren't going to do that. So expect repeats...lots of them.
They are going to make a movie about this guy, Ted Turner has probably called Dick Parsons already.
It's got everything they love, good looking black man, set up on a phony rape charge, gets a hung jury because because enough jurors know the allegations are bogus, BUT has to go through a retrial before a white judge, so, seeing the inevitable, he preempts it by making one of the most daring escapes in history, the story ends with an attractive white blond making him pancakes, before he surrenders to the media whores all patting themselves on the back for their brillient police work.
Remember the black getaway driver in "Heat"? Cast that guy, the film will do 100 million during it's opening week.
If I were taking Marta from north springs to the airport, I'd give it an hour for good measure. Bet Nichols made it from downtown to Lenox in 10-15 minutes flat.
I want to take up for the Atlanta police force. Atlanta is a big city; it's a tough city. I'm sure there are alot of good, capable men and women on the Atlanta police force. I'm sure....I'm sure...I'm sure.....
It's a mistake to leave one officer to guard an inmate in an isolated area no matter if the officer is male or female.I'm sure Nichols could have taken out most of the male officers almost as easily as he took out the female.An officer is put in vulnerable positions while putting restraints on and off of inmates.I've seen some good size officers be put to sleep by a punch hitting them while they were distracted.If there was another officer with her he/she could have called for assistance immediately instead of allowing him to sneak up on those he killed.
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