Atlanta Judge, 2 Others Killed in Courthouse Shooting

Atlanta Judge, 2 Others Killed in Courthouse Shooting (Update3)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aSmtWNmzDL1s&refer=us

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- An Atlanta judge and two other people were shot and killed and a fourth person was wounded after a man wrestled a gun away from a courtroom deputy. The suspect, who was on trial for rape, was still at large.

The shooting took place on the eighth floor of the Fulton County courthouse, where judges' chambers and courtrooms are located, spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt said. The courthouse and surrounding government buildings have been locked down.

The suspect, identified by law enforcement as Brian Nichols, fled after carjacking a vehicle outside the courthouse. Nichols also was being tried on false imprisonment charges, jury member Robert Singleton, 40, said in an interview. The trial began earlier this week and was to end today, Singleton said.

The slain judge was identified as Rowland Barnes, according to Superior Court Judge John Goger. Barnes recently had presided over the homicide case of Dany Heatley, a professional hockey player for the Atlanta Thrashers. Heatley was charged with vehicular homicide last year in the death of National Hockey League teammate Dan Snyder.

A court reporter and a sheriff's deputy were also killed, Cable News Network reported. A second deputy was wounded.

Barnes was appointed to the court in 1998 by then-Governor Zell Miller, and had been a magistrate and part-time superior court judge before then.

Barnes removed himself from a death penalty case in August after one of the defendant's lawyers accused him of ``a troubling bias against those accused of capital crimes,'' according to legal newspaper Fulton County Daily Report.

In an affidavit seeking Barnes's recusal, the lawyer, Tom West, quoted Barnes as saying, ``You defense lawyers are responsible for making the death penalty process so complicated and expensive.''

To contact the reporter on this story:
Mark Clothier in Atlanta at mclothier@bloomberg.net; Laurence Viele Davidson in Birmingham,
Alabama at lviele@Bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Glenn Holdcraft at gholdcraft@bloomberg.net;
Patrick Oster at poster@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 11, 2005 11:18 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aSmtWNmzDL1s&refer=us

Atlanta Judge, 2 Others Killed in Courthouse Shooting (Update3)
Bloomberg - 47 minutes ago
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- An Atlanta judge and two other people were shot and killed and a fourth person was wounded after a man wrestled a gun away from a courtroom deputy. The suspect, who was on trial for rape, was still at large. ...
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