Shooting in an Atlanta Courtroom

This disturbing story from Atlanta raises some questions:

A prominent Fulton County Superior Court judge was gunned down inside his Atlanta courtroom this morning, along with a court reporter and two sheriff's deputies.

WAGA-TV reports widely respected jurist Rowland Barnes, 64, was fatally shot in the head behind the bench.

The court reporter, identified by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as 43-year-old Julie Brandau, also sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

Both are said to have died in the courtroom.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes (Courtesy: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Authorities say defendant Brian Nicholson, on trial before Barnes for the rape of his girlfriend, overpowered the deputy-sheriff escorting him from the court's detention facility, grabbed her gun and then started firing inside an 8th-floor courtroom just as proceedings got under way at 9 a.m. EST.

Here's some other info about this guy:

Nichols, 33, faced charges of false imprisonment, rape, sodomy and possession of a machine gun, handgun and a large quantity of marijuana, according to WAGA.
His first trial ended in a mistrial last week. He had yet to take the stand in this trial. The jurors had not yet entered the courtroom.

Nichols' demeanor reportedly intimidated members of the jury.
"Every time he looked up, he was staring at you," juror James Bailey told the Associated Press.

WAGA reports court deputies on Wednesday found a handmade knife, or shank, hidden in Nichols' shoe prior to his court appearance.

Legal analysts question why greater security measures weren't taken with Nichols following the knife incident.

Apparently the suspect was being escorted to the courtroom by a single, armed female deputy. The suspect was not handcuffed or shackled. Here are my questions:

1. Will anyone in the media even consider discussing the wisdom of having female officers doing this kind of work? (My guess, probably not. Too politically incorrect.)

2. Why was this scum being escorted by only one deputy, and why was he allowed to walk around without any kind of restraints - especially after the knife incident earlier? I'm guessing that policy is going to change real soon.

As Rush said, it's good thing this guy is over 18 so when they catch him (assuming he survives the arrest), he can be executed 15 or 20 years from now when all the appeals run out.