On The Run

How in the hell does someone have a shoot-out in a busy courthouse and get away? It boggles the mind, yet somehow it happened in Atlanta, GA this morning. Brian Nichols, 33, was facing a retrial for rape and kidnapping in an Atlanta courtroom downtown when he grabbed the gun of a deputy and shot her in the face. He held the court hostage for a few minutes then shot the judge presiding over his case and a court reporter.

First of all, as a deputy, that's pretty sloppy to give someone an opportunity to even THINK about grabbing your gun. I know it's pretty ho-hum in the courtroom most of the time, but they've had enough training (one would hope) to know how to protect themselves better than that.

After the three initial shootings Nichols made his way down a stairwell 8 stories to the street where he shot a second deputy. He then tried to carjack at least three vehicles before ending up in a parking garage for the Atlanta Underground where he finally stole a vehicle.

Okay, this is a courthouse crawling with officers yet no one thinks of securing the building? After the initial shot, which I'm sure was heard by someone, it was another few minutes before Nichols fired again. It seems like during this time officers could have been closing off the area to make sure no one got away. I thought this was standard procedure?

A defense attorney, Renee Rockwell, was on her way to the courtroom immediately following the shooting and was pulled inside an elevator by one of the deputies. The deputy started crying and told Rockwell they were held hostage and the Judge had been shot.

I'm sorry if I sound totally insensitive, but why isn't this woman calling 911 or on her damn walkie-talkie instead of crying her eyes out? Everyone that goes into law enforcement should expect these types of situations at some point in their career and they teach you that. In my opinion, and maybe I'm being a heartless bastard, the security and law enforcement personnel at this particular courtroom have either gone soft or need serious additional training.

Right now the first deputy shot is in critical condition, but expected to survive, the other 3 victims are dead. The search continues across the southern states for Brian Nichols, but at the moment he is still at large. I think this whole situation could have been avoided and I guarantee additional law enforcement training for this courthouse will be a hot topic.