Posted on 03/11/2005 6:39:06 AM PST by mhking
This is a breaking news situation.
A man entered a courtroom in the Fulton County Courthouse this morning and shot a Fulton County Sheriff's deputy, a clerk and a judge; there are reports from both WSB and WAGA, the judge is deceased.
The perp has carjacked multiple vehicles -- now on his third -- and is still at large.
I've just come from downtown Atlanta, and the city is a madhouse.
The judge reminds me of Eddie Munster
The judge has the best laugh. I just laugh hearing his laugh.
In other words, quoting Marcellus Wallace, "(We're) going to get medieval on his ass."
Which, you have to admit is fairly accurate once you account for his general racial type.
I think that whole Dune thing never really happened.
Oh god, I used deadly word force. I am so ashamed.
AJC.com > Breaking News
Wounded deputy expected to survive
By MIKE MORRIS | Friday, March 11, 2005, 01:19 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dr. Jeffrey Salomone, one of the attending trauma surgeons at Grady Memorial Hospital, said the mortally wounded deputy was brought into the hospital at 9:24 a.m. with a single gunshot wound to the abdomen.
“He had no vital signs when he arrived here, and despite our resuscitative efforts, he was pronounced dead at about 9:34,” Salomone said. “About that time, a second Fulton County sheriff’s deputy arrived.”
The second deputy, Salomone said, “appeared to have a single gunshot wound to the head.”
Salomone said the bullet did not enter the deputy’s skull.
“She has a small bruise on her brain and some fractures around her face,” the doctor said. “It appears that after being shot, the deputy perhaps fell to the ground, receiving some of those fractures to her head.”
He said that while that deputy is in critical condition, “she is expected to survive the injuries.”
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Atlanta, DeKalb schools under lockdown
By PETER SCOTT, PAUL DONSKY | Friday, March 11, 2005, 01:17 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Public School system has put four Buckhead schools under lockdown due to the manhunt under way for the suspect in the shooting at the Fulton County Courthouse: Jackson Elementary, Sutton Middle, Sara Smith Elementary and the Sara Smith kindergarten annex.
Additionally, all DeKalb County schools have been ordered to keep their exterior doors locked.
Under restricted lockdown, movement within the school continues as normal, but the doors are locked and manned by security personnel to restrict entry to the building. The decision on which schools to lock down was made based on the latest information APS has received from the Atlanta Police Department about the possible movement of the suspect, school officials said.
Fulton County schools are not in session today.
Atlanta had earlier put 36 schools under lockdown, including the four Buckhead schools. But shortly before 1 p.m. the district removed 32 schools from the lockdown list.
The Atlanta schools originally put under lockdown are under lockdown are:
Elementary Schools: Adamsville, Bethune, Blalock, Bolton Academy, Boyd, Brandon, Centennial Place, Garden Hills, Grove Park, Fain, Finch, Hill, Herndon, Jackson, Jones, Miles Oglethorpe, Peyton Forest, Rivers, Scott, Smith, Smith Kindergarten Annex, F.L. Stanton, Towns, Usher, White, Williams, Woodson, Carson Honors Preparatory.
Middle Schools: Harper/Archer, Kennedy, Sutton, Turner
High Schools: Douglass, North Atlanta, Washington.
As a precaution, Clayton County school officials locked down the Brown Elementary School at 9771 Poston Road in Jonesboro.
“It is our understanding that [shooting suspect Brian Nichols] has relatives or that there is some family connection near the school and we just want to make sure our students are safe,” said school district spokesman Charles White.
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Judge’s wife asks for privacy; neighbor in shock
By MARGARET NEWKIRK | Friday, March 11, 2005, 01:14 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Judge Rowland Barnes’ neighbor, Sallie Richey, moved into their Colleg Park neighborhood 47 years ago. Barnes and his family moved into their one-story, red brick house soon after, said Richey, 90, whose daughter was friends with the judge’s daughter.
“He was a good neighbor,” she said. “We’ve been knowing him for more than 40 years, and everybody loved him.
“He was a lawyer in College Park for years,” Richey said. “When any of us had a little problem, we’d always go to Roland.”
She still was absorbing the news of Barnes’ violent death.
“I went to sleep last night with the TV on. I woke up a little after 9, and that’s all that was on,” she said.
The modest section of Lyle Road where Barnes lived is lined by older homes on small, tree-filled lots. About an hour after the shooting, nobody answered the door at the house, fronted by a porch with a swing.
Around noon, police pulled up in what appeared to be Barnes’ Isuzu Rodeo and parked it in the driveway.
At 12:50, College Park Police Deputy Chief Lewis B. Harper told a reporter that Claudia Barnes, the judge’s wife, had requested the media respect her privacy and that she did not want to make a statement at the time.
“She’s still coming to grips with it,” Harper said, then shaking his head added, “A thing like that in a courtroom.”
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Governor, Fulton sheriff pledge to catch suspect
By STAFF REPORTS | Friday, March 11, 2005, 12:50 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At 12:45 p.m., Gov. Sonny Perdue and Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman briefed reporters outside Grady Memorial Hospital, pledging to bring suspect Brian Nichols to justice.
Freeman was tightlipped about details of the hunt for the suspect. “This is a very sad day for Fulton County…. our prayers go out to the families.”
Perdue said the state is assisting Fulton County, including agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and state patrol. Perdue, too, offered his condolences to those killed in Thursday’s shooting at the Fulton County Courthouse.
A hospital surgeon described unsuccessful attempts to revive one victim. A wounded sheriff’s deputy, who suffered facial injuries, was listed in critical condition. She is expected to survive, the Grady doctor said.
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SWAT police surround Sandy Springs building
By MARK DAVIS | Friday, March 11, 2005, 12:46 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officers have surrounded a commercial building and small apartment complex off of Roswell Road near Lake Placid Drive in the Sandy Springs area.
ATF and other federal agents, as well as local police dressed in SWAT gear, are patrolling the area along with at least one helicopter.
Police at the scene refused comment.
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‘You can’t stop every crazy guy’
By KELLY SIMMONS | Friday, March 11, 2005, 12:33 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton County public defenders Joshua Schiffer and Matthew Welch were in the courthouse when the shootings occurred. Both were directed to the ninth-floor sheriff’s office, where they were sequestered with other court employees while the building was searched.
“It was extremely frightening, harrowing, to not know if someone is in the courthouse with a gun,” Welch said.
They listened to chatter on the deputies’ radios and watched news reports of the incident while they waited. “Everybody was on their cell phones trying to get a handle on what had happened,” Schiffer said.
After about 30 minutes, they were told they could leave the building.
Both men said they felt safe in the courthouse. Usually two or three deputies are in a courtroom for a criminal trial, although at times there has been only one, Schiffer said.
“Every single day we come to work we trust them to protect us,” he said.
“They’ve never let me down.”
“People are prone to do very rash things sometime,” Schiffer said. “These incidents are going to happen every blue moon. You can’t stop every crazy guy.”
Not too sure - depends on whether he can find a safe house and stay for a long period of time.
Not sure I wanna take any bets on that. It's a big universe out there. ;-)
you couldnt "ruffle" Judge Ns hair with a snow blower
"The judge should also have a firearm IMO)."
Having been an assistant prosecutor here in Missouri, we use to have a judge (VB) who got in trouble from the press/public defenders when he use to scare the young 1st time felons by saying "your lucky you didnt get killed, (pause, and with this deep gravelly voice) because if you broke into my house I'da shoot'cha with my 45" as he leaned to one side and put his hand on his robe where presumably he was touching his gun. Scared the S**t out of the kids,but it gave them something to think about. I honestly believe it probably saved a few of the boarderline criminals to getting scared straight.
Don't feel bad. I was gathering up a handful of those deadly words to use on him myself. LOL
What good is life at 60 year of age if you are drummed out of your job because of your political views?
It's very condescending and patronizing to see certain respected regulars in here become "shocked" and dismayed at a comment wishing "good riddance" to activist liberal judges....in the context it was typed.
When I was younger, I would tan to a nice "roux". Looking out for melanoma.
True I remember from visiting my ex uncle-in-law and his "companion" lived in Atlanta. In three hours that guy could be sitting on Tybee Island drinking a ber by now.
I like Judge Napalitano, don't get me wrong. But he's always reminded me of a badger, LOL!
I kid you not, isn't that weird?
Because the court "didn't want to prejudice the jury."
Political correctness reigns supreme. The judge has been characterized as a "compassionate" guy, but it sounds like his "compassion" may have just cost 3 people their lives.
What good is life at 60 year of age if you are drummed out of your job because of your political views?
It's very condescending and patronizing to see certain respected regulars in here become "shocked" and dismayed at a comment wishing "good riddance" to activist liberal judges....in the context it was typed.
Judge Napolitano {I call him Judge Neopolitan all the time}
He is adorable, take back what you said!!!!
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