A preliminary investigation of a shooting at Goodwater City Hall indicates that at approximately 9:39 a.m. today, a defendant attacked the Municipal Court judge and attempted to forcibly obtain a firearm when he was shot by a Goodwater police officer who was providing courtroom security, according to a Department of Public Safety press release.
from http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/02/alabama_bureau_of_investigatio_4.html
That means he tried to grab a gun from the officer or a bailiff.
That will get you shot - particularly after the Brian Nichols case, in which Judge Rowland Barnes and his court reporter and bailiff were killed while court was in session. His calendar clerk and secretary were pistol-whipped and badly injured. I knew Judge Barnes and know his calendar clerk quite well. She is crippled and can't even go out of her house without having a panic attack.
NOMW, the Fulton Cty sheriff's department is going to pay out big judgments for violating their own protocol. Three deputies left the video monitoring equipment in the jail to go get breakfast, leaving a 60 year old female deputy to escort Nichols to court. This after Judge Barnes had told the sheriff's office that Nichols was dangerous -- he had threatened court personnel and had been caught with a shank -- and the judge had asked for special protection. He took her gun and the rest all followed.
Fulton is dysfunctional, but I imagine courtroom officials are taking no chances these days.