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CNN LIVE SATURDAY

Brian Nichols Captured; Pressconference with Law Enforcement Responsible For Capture Of Brian Nichols

Aired March 12, 2005 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN ANCHOR: Stand by. We'll be bringing you back in right after the presser.
Well, our special coverage of the deadly shooting spree in Atlanta continues for you. Let's take a closer look at the victims in this tragedy.

Fulton County Superior Court judge Rowland Barnes was the judge presiding over suspect Brian Nichols' rape trial. He was fatally shot in his courtroom.

Barnes was a well-respected judge who presided over some high- profile cases here in Atlanta.

Now, also shot was court reporter Julie Ann Brandau. She was known for making cookies and sweets for her colleagues and jurors. Brandau is survived by her 18-year-old daughter.

Also, veteran sheriff's deputy, Sergeant Hoyt Teasely, was shot dead outside of the Atlanta courthouse. Teasely was married, a father of two. He was actually chasing the suspect when he was shot and killed as the suspect was fleeing the scene.

Now, authorities say this all happened after Brian Nichols overpowered Deputy Cynthia Hall and took her gun as he was being led from a detention area into the courtroom. Hall suffered serious head injuries. She is in critical condition right now, and is expected to survive.

Perhaps the luckiest victim was Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Don O'Briant. O'Briant says that Nichols put a gun to his head in a parking garage very nearby demanding keys and telling him to climb into the truck (sic). Of course, he refused. And was pistol- whipped instead.

Well, that saved his life. And today, another person was found shot dead -- you're looking at his picture there -- David Wilhelm, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was found this morning in Atlanta. Wilhelm's truck was found near the apartment complex where Nichols was finally captured.

The Georgia legal community is mourning the loss of Judge Barnes. Our Paula Zahn takes a look at the life of this well-loved professional and family man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JUDGE ROWLAND BARNES, ATLANTA SUPERIOR COURT: Is there anyone here in court for a case whose name I did not call?

ZAHN (voice-over): A voice that will never be heard again. Judge Rowland Barnes was 64. He came up through the ranks, a hard working magistrate and city court judge in Atlanta suburbs, before becoming a Superior Court judge in 1998. He had a reputation of cutting through red tape and having good relations with reporters, co- workers and lawyers.

Attorney B.J. Bernstein knew Judge Barnes well.

B.J. BERNSTEIN, ATTORNEY: A really wonderful judge. Sometimes we hear the reputations of judges having tantrums or being very strict. He was somebody who handled himself where both parties got to have a say. Whichever side you were on, you got to be able to say your points, and then he made a decision, and usually, it was a fair one.

ZAHN: Some of his decisions were controversial. When a mother of seven children pleaded guilty in the beating death of her newborn daughter, Judge Barnes allowed the woman to avoid jail time, in return for her agreeing to be sterilized.

Just last month, Judge Barnes handled the case of Atlanta's popular hockey star, Danny Heatley, whose car was allegedly going 90 miles an hour when it crashed, killing a teammate. The dead man's family urged Judge Barnes to keep Heatley out of jail and not destroy his professional hockey career. Judge Barnes listened and gave Heatley probation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: And that was our Paula Zahn reporting.

Now, down the street from the courthouse where the shootings took place, flags at the state Capitol are flying at half-staff today in remembrance of the victims.

Stay with CNN for the latest on the Atlanta shooting investigation. CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" will devote an entire hour to the story tonight. CNN's Ted Rowlands will be guest hosting that. It all begins at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

And we have this breaking story that we wanted to tell you about. We have live pictures now out of Wisconsin. A gunman shooting -- do we have those live pictures? All right. there they are. We're looking at it right now.

Actually this is tape from earlier. It is not live pictures. But we want to tell you about this breaking story. A gunman has shot four people at a church meeting being held near a hotel near Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon before shooting himself.

The police chief there says seven or eight others were injured and taken to the hospital in serious condition. Information on their injuries was not immediately available. We'll bring you more information on this breaking story as soon as we get it.

It looks like that presser we've been waiting for all day is about to begin. Am I correct? There it is. There it is.

That is the presser at City Hall East where the murder suspect Barry Nichols (sic) is being held in custody. We're awaiting this press conference now. We want to hear what's going on with Barry Nichols (sic).

This just wraps up a day of intense man hunting -- full force here in Atlanta, Georgia. All forces going out to try to find this suspect who was charged with killing three people yesterday, another person today. He has been followed from downtown Atlanta to Buckhead, and then to Gwinnett were he went to an apartment complex, found a woman there and entered her apartment.

We have a series of information as to what happened later, but eventually the woman was allowed to leave the apartment. She immediately called 911 SWAT teams, headed out there. And he eventually -- Nichols eventually -- Nichols eventually waved a white flag and surrendered.

Let's listen in to the press conference.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...and I'm sure many in the media feel exactly the same way.

We realize you have many questions. I want to remind you that this is an -- this investigation is still ongoing, and we don't yet have all the answers. This is a complicated case, with multiple jurisdictions involved, and at different levels -- local state and federal. We all want to succeed in prosecuting our respective cases. We will give you the best answers we can.

I want to begin by introducing the officials behind me. I will start from my right, your left: Deputy Chief Peter Andresen from the Atlanta Police Department, the director of the GBI, Mr. Vernon Keenan, Mr. David Nahmias of the United States attorney's office, Mr. -- special agent in charge Greg Jones of the federal -- Atlanta Bureau of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Vanessa McLemore (ph), the special agent in charge of the ATF, Kenneth Smith, special agent in charge of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Assistant Chief Alan Dreher, Atlanta Police Department, Chief Richard Pennington, Atlanta Police Department, Mr. Paul Howard, Fulton County District Attorney, Sheriff Myron Freeman, Fulton County Sheriff's Department, Mr. Richard Meachum (ph), U.S. Marshal Office, Chief George Coleman, Fulton County Chief Police, Deputy Chief G.D. Styles, Fulton County Police Department and Major Platt, Fulton County Police Department. There are a few others there, I don't have all their names.

I will now turn it over to Chief Richard Pennington.

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good evening. First of all, I'd like to start off by thanking all the law enforcement officials that are here today. We would not have been able to apprehend this individual, Brian Nichols, without the assistance of all the local, state and federal agencies that are here today. And I really, really do mean that, because it was a coordinated effort. A lot of information went into this capturing this individual.

And I want to just briefly give you a synopsis of what took place since last night when we found the green Honda in the parking lot. We received information of an incident in the 3200 block of Lennox Road where 2 people were assaulted at approximately 10:40 p.m. We know that Brian Nichols approached 2 individuals last night and assaulted both of them. They were from out of town. And then he left that location.

He went to 926 Kantor Road where he shot a Customs agent and took his truck, and he took his weapon, his Glock, and he took his identification and I.D. We know that for a fact. The construction workers found the body of the Customs agent inside his residence at approximately 6:30 to 7:00 a.m.

A lookout was given for the truck and a massive search, as we put the broadcast out throughout the metropolitan area and the state. And the truck was located in Gwinnett County. And subsequently after the truck was located, the Gwinnett County Police, along with the federal agents, FBI, ATF, and the task force members made contact.

We knew it was a hostage situation initially. A lady departed the apartment complex after she dialed, of course, 911, informing us that Brian Nichols was held up inside the apartment. And after that, Brian Nichols gave himself up peacefully without any aggressiveness. And he's currently under arrest. And we're still trying to decipher out the charges.

He has federal charges and also state charges as well. And at some point, I'll let the district attorney talk about the charges from the state level. And someone is here that can talk about the federal charges as well.

But I just briefly want to once again thank all the law enforcement agencies, thank my officers. They worked extremely hard for the past 32 hours, many of them not getting sleep. I know that for a fact, because I was up all night, too, making sure we were getting all the information.

The tip, the hotline worked out tremendously for us. There were a lot of good leads. A lot of information came in. And we were overwhelmed with the number of calls that came in on our tip hotline.

And so once again, I just want to thank everyone that's here. And I know for a fact we would not have been able to close this case without the cooperation and the collaboration of all these organizations standing behind me.

GREGORY JONES, FBI: Thank you Chief Pennington. I'm Gregory Jones, special agent in charge of the FBI here in Atlanta.

It is indeed a great pleasure this afternoon to be before you to announce the capture of Brian Nichols. When we talk about law enforcement and our abilities to get our heads together to tackle complex problems, we were faced with such a complex problem yesterday morning. The events that unfolded there at the Fulton County Courthouse as we all witnessed across the country were devastating, horrendous and left each and every one of us, not only in law enforcement, but perhaps across the country, with a great feeling of sadness and despair.

I am pleased to announce that the many resources -- hundreds of FBI agents, intelligence analysts, S.W.A.T. team personnel here in Atlanta and across the country, who partnered with these ladies and gentlemen who are behind me, in an effort to end the terrorist reign of terror, perhaps, that Brian Nichols did to this Atlanta metropolitan area.

I am very pleased to be able to work with such fine men and women of federal, state and local law enforcement who come together to solve the complex issues that we face from time to time.

I'm going to be very brief with my comments, because I think what you really want to hear is the timeline, perhaps, and some of the events as they unfolded over the past 32 hours. But I want you to know that it would not have been possible without the combined efforts of all of us, all of us standing here, and the efforts that we put together when we have to do the things that we do on a daily basis.

Our prayers go out to those county employees who were touched in such a devastating way yesterday, as well as one of our federal brothers, the I.C.E. special agent in charge -- or assistant special agent in charge who we now believe may have been the victim of this crime spree as well.

Thank you very much.

CHIEF CHARLES WALTERS, GWINNETT COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Charles Walters. I'm the chief of the Gwinnett County Police Department.

We are very honored to have been able to assist in this investigation. It came to a culmination after a 911 call at about 10 minutes to 10:00 this morning. An officer responded to the call of a woman who said that Mr. Nichols was in fact in her apartment, and had held her captive for a certain amount of time. She was able to get out of the apartment and call us.

We were -- we activated our S.W.A.T. team and the uniformed people and the S.W.A.T. folks were able to contain the area. We had approximately 30 officers on the scene, 30 S.W.A.T. officers on the scene.

Shortly after their arrival, Mr. Nichols surrendered, literally waving a white flag. So it ended as well as a situation like this can possibly end.

Again, while it doesn't -- it in no way diminishes the sadness and the tragedy that's occurred, I'm very proud of our agency that we were able to assist and bring this to a very peaceable conclusion.

Again, the public has been tremendous. I think our folks showed a tremendous amount of professionalism in this emotionally charged scene. They performed just like the top notch individuals that they are.

Thank you for your time. I don't know who's coming up next.

KENNETH SMITH, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Good afternoon. My name is Kenneth Smith. I'm the special agent in charge for Immigration, Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations here in Atlanta.

Yesterday evening, U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Wilhelm was shot and killed while he was working on his home on Kanter Street here in Atlanta. His body was discovered this morning.

On behalf of the entire I.C.E. family, we first send our thoughts and prayers to agent Dave Wilhelm's family and friends. Agent Wilhelm's death is a tragic loss for the entire law enforcement community, particularly our office here in Atlanta.

Dave has served as my assistant special agent in charge since November of 2004. He was an exemplary law enforcement officer, a trusted colleague and true a friend. Dave began his law enforcement career nearly 18 years ago with the legacy U.S. Customs Service in Beaufort, South Carolina. Dave also served as special agent in Charlotte, North Carolina, in Norfolk, Virginia before his promotion to the assistant special agent in charge here in Atlanta.

Agent Wilhelm is survived by a large and loving family, especially his wife, and his brother Patrick who's a dedicated I.C.E. special agent here in our Atlanta office.

The Department of Homeland Security and I.C.E. are committing every resource to assist or federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who are conducting this ongoing investigation. On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, I want to thank the entire law enforcement community for their outstanding work and for their outpouring of support during this time. Thank you.

PAUL HOWARD, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTY: Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of all of the citizens of Fulton County, and particularly the victims' families involved with this incident, I would like to thank all of the law enforcement officials who participated in the capture of this defendant. I know that they worked so many hours. And it was important to them, as it is to all the residents of our county, that this man be apprehended. And we are really thankful.

And we particularly want to thank Chief Walters from Gwinnett County for their participation in bringing him to a position that we can try him and provide the further proceeding of this incident.

I just want to mention, from this point forward, that there are a couple things that will happen. First of all, in the early part of next week, we plan to resolve the trial that this defendant was in on Friday. As you know, he was actually involved in a trial. And we have to resolve that issue.

We hope that within a 30-day period we will receive the complete investigation from the Atlanta Police Department. And as is our custom, the people from my office are already working very closely with the Atlanta Police Department. And our hope is that we would charge this defendant within 30 days and start the process of bringing closure to the families in this case.

DAVID NAHMIAS, U.S. ATTORNEY: Good afternoon. I'm David Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern district of Georgia. These have been two tragic days for our community, and particularly for our criminal justice and law enforcement community.

The murders yesterday morning were horrible. And it became worse last night when a great federal agent and a good man, David Wilhelm, was also murdered. The thoughts and prayers of all of us, people in my office and everyone else in the community go out to their survivors. And we are determined that we will bring the murderer of these people to justice.

This afternoon, my office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives filed a federal criminal complaint against Brian Nichols, charging him with possession of a firearm by a person under indictment. This resulted from the great coordinated effort of all these federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to apprehend Mr. Nichols late this morning.

This is essentially a holding charge that will ensure Mr. Nichols detention while we sort out what additional federal and state charges may be brought against him and where he should be held. On that point, let me say that Mr. Howard and the Fulton County District Attorney's office will have the lead on charging decisions.

My office will act to ensure that the murderer of Special Agent David Wilhelm receives the full measure of justice that he deserves. And that we will support the district attorney's office in any other way we can.

Finally, let me ask that you be cautious in reporting on this story, and understanding of the fact that we may not be able to answer all your questions, either because we don't have the answers yet -- we're very early into this investigation -- or because the most important thing from this point forward is ensuring that this is a fair operation of the system of justice that brings justice, the full measure of justice, to the person who murdered these individuals. Thank you.

SHERIFF MYRON FREEMAN, FULTON COUNTY, GA: Good afternoon. My name is Myron Freeman, Fulton County Sheriff. On behalf of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, I want to thank everyone, federal, state and local law enforcement officers for helping us captured this -- this Mr. Brian Nichols.

My condolences goes out to the families of those that were injured, and, really, tragic -- this tragedy that happened to the families. But I want to say that we really appreciate you, the media, for helping bring this -- and the public bringing this person to justice.

I'd like to say henceforth, is that we'd like to set up a task force with the U.S. attorney, D.A. and the Chief Pennington to properly look at the overall procedures of the -- of our procedures at the -- at the -- our security procedures.

But I would ask that you don't jump to conclusions. I've only been in office a couple months. And to be patient while we review all our procedures to make sure that we've got the best procedures possible. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will take some questions.

QUESTION: Chief Pennington, can you go over more of the time frame as far as how Mr. Nichols got from that parking garage to the Lennox Road area? And is there any indication that you knew (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that it was in fact a federal agent?

PENNINGTON: Well, I can't elaborate on that at this time, only because he's still being interviewed as I speak.

We know for a fact that when he left that garage, he took a MARTA train up towards Lennox. We do know that. And so, in terms of whether or not he knew about the customs officer being a federal agent, I can't elaborate on that at this time. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to do so.

QUESTION: Chief, can you elaborate on the two out-of-towners...

PENNINGTON: Yes. I can. I understand that the brief information I have, they were here for the game, if I recall correctly -- they were here for the game, and they were approached by Brian. And he brandished a weapon. And I think he tried to ascertain if they had money or a vehicle. And then he struck one of them in the face with his weapon. And of course they fled the scene. And then he fled the scene as well.

QUESTION: Did it happen at the MARTA station?

PENNINGTON: It happened at 3200 Lennox Road, yes.

QUESTION: Chief, can you tell us anything about the suspect's demeanor or comments he's made since his arrest?

PENNINGTON: No, I can't. All I know is that he's currently being interviewed by the homicide detectives and some other investigators. He is cooperating that I've been told. But in terms of admitting to anything, I'm not aware of that at this moment.

QUESTION: Has he asked for an attorney, chief?

PENNINGTON: I don't know that. I don't know that. But an attorney has been -- I mean, we have given him his right and offered him an attorney.

QUESTION: Can I ask Chief Walters a quick question?

PENNINGTON: Sure.

QUESTION: I'm a little bit confused about this woman. Three quick things about this. Did the woman know him beforehand? How did she get out to make the phone call? And was the vehicle spotted before this woman even called?

WALTERS: First things first, every indication is this was truly a stranger-on-stranger crime. She had no knowledge of this person before, never met him or anything else. The vehicle was found away from the scene. It was not spotted prior to that. And...

QUESTION: How did she get out?

WALTERS: That's part of the debriefing process right now. We're not sure whether he allowed her to leave, or whether she was able to escape. We're not really sure exactly the mechanics of what happened in the apartment. But bottom line she was somehow able to get out and make the call.

QUESTION: Will she be able to get that $60,000 reward?

WALTERS: I don't know that.

QUESTION: Where is she now?

WALTERS: I honestly don't know. I'm sure she's being debriefed also. So, I'm not sure.

QUESTION: Chief, can you elaborate also on the suspect's demeanor when your SWAT team approached him? What was his actions at the house? And what, if anything, did he say, or didn't, when they approached?

WALTERS: There was nothing remarkable. There was no aggressiveness. He complied with the officers' instructions. To my knowledge -- I'm not aware of what he said to them. There was no resistance. It was the best possible way for this to end. It was very peaceful and he was very submissive to the officers' requests.

QUESTION: Chief Pennington, was there, or why wasn't there, an attempt to close down MARTA? And why wasn't the parking lot garage searched?

PENNINGTON: Well, initially the information we received about the vehicle was that the vehicle had exited the garage. So at that point, the officers canvassed the level where the carjacking took place. And all the information that they received from witnesses and sources indicated that the vehicle had left the scene. And so we did not search the entire parking garage.

QUESTION: Did you find the car that he drove to the garage yet?

PENNINGTON: We found the Honda.

No. The only car we've been able to find is that Honda.

QUESTION: What about MARTA?

PENNINGTON: What about it?

QUESTION: Did you think about shutting down MARTA?

PENNINGTON: No, we didn't. Not at the time. No.

Remember, we still thought he was in the car. So, we had no reason to close down MARTA, because we thought he was still in the Honda.

QUESTION: What time were those two folks assaulted?

PENNINGTON: About 10:40 p.m. last night.

QUESTION: Do you know where they're from?

PENNINGTON: I don't have the report in front of me. I know they're from out of state. We can get that from you.

QUESTION: What can you tell us about the weapons at this time that he possessed?

PENNINGTON: I can't tell you anything about the weapons. I think the chief from Gwinnett was at the scene when he was arrested. He might be able to elaborate on that. But I don't know the number of weapons that we've recovered. I think it's still being investigated. We won't know that until after the debriefing.

QUESTION: Chief, are you aware of where Mr. Nichols is going to be taken now? Who is going to take charge of him?

PENNINGTON: I'll let -- do you want to talk about that?

NAHMIAS: The U.S. attorney's office is working with the district attorney's office to sort out where Mr. Nichols will be taken and when. When we make that decision, and probably after it's happened, for security reasons, we'll let you know.

QUESTION: Do you know when his first appearance will be?

NAHMIAS: If there is a first appearance on the current federal charge, it would probably be on Monday in federal court. We may make other charging decisions before that time. And so that appearance may never happen.

Again, we'll let you know when the decision has been made on where he'll next appear in public.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

NAHMIAS: The murder of a state judge is not a federal crime.

QUESTION: So the possible federal crimes he can face involve the I.C.E. Agent?

NAHMIAS: Well, we're examining all the potential charges. As I know Mr. Howard is, and we'll determine that. We are less than 36 hours into this event. And we're going to make sure we do this in a very cautious and careful way. Because the one thing we don't want to do is make a mistake that will prevent justice being done in this case.

QUESTION: The follow-up question is about the -- can you handle that?

HOWARD: We anticipate that sometime during the early part of next week, we will hold a first appearance hearing at the Fulton County Jail. As we've had said, for security reasons, we're trying to not talk about exactly where this defendant will be now and in the next 24 hours, but he will have a state first appearance hearing during the early part of next week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead, Bruce.

QUESTION: My question is for Sheriff Freeman. Sheriff, on Monday when the courthouse opens, what is the security situation's going to be there?

FREEMAN: When the courthouse opens, it will be business as usual.

Our office -- it will be business as usual. We house over about 2,500 inmates. We have a professional organization. And what we're going to do is to take care of business as usual. Thank you.

QUESTION: Do you believe you need any assistance inside the courtroom, any law enforcement help outside of your agency?

FREEMAN: I think that we can handle the security in the courtroom. Of course, when I first took this office, my first priority was the jail, and that's why I've been focusing most of my attention. But now we're going to review all the procedures in the office.

Again I've only been in office two months. And please let's not jump to conclusions, but let's be patient and conduct a complete investigation. And once the complete investigation is done, then we'll go from there.

QUESTION: You can't tell us any preliminary stuff, like what kind of holster or what kind of training, or when can you answer any of those questions?

FREEMAN: No ma'am. Not at this time.

QUESTION: Can you answer why Nichols was alone with one deputy?

FREEMAN: It's still under investigation and review.

I've spent most of my time with the families. The families are bereaved. And we're trying to -- my first act was to take care of the families because they're really shocked. My second priority was to get Mr. Nichols back in custody.

Now I can turn my attention to the other issues of looking at all this security. And that's why I want to set the task force up with Chief Pennington, the U.S. attorney, and Mr. Paul Howard, where we can look at this.

QUESTION: I have a question agent for Special Agent Smith about Special Agent Wilhelm. Was he alone in his home working on it at the time he was assaulted?

SMITH: He was.

QUESTION: Does he live in the Atlanta area while building his house? Does he have another home in Atlanta, or does he live in another area?

SMITH: He lives in the Atlanta area. With his recent transfer to the area, he was in temporary quarters. And then in the process of completing construction on this new home.

QUESTION: Can you describe the nature of his injuries? And can anyone tell me how far away from the apartment complex the truck was found?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's dead...

QUESTION: I mean, how was he killed? Was it a gunshot wound?

SMITH: That's still under investigation.

QUESTION: How far was the truck from the apartment complex?

SMITH: I'm sorry. When his truck was located?

QUESTION: When his truck was located, how far away was it from the place where the suspect was captured?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, from Lennox Road to Gwinnett County.

QUESTION: Was it a random confrontation?

QUESTION: No, no, no, I'm sorry. When the truck was found?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truck was located, ma'am, in Gwinnett County. It was taken from 3200 Lennox Road in the city.

QUESTION: And how far is that from the apartment complex? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From Lennox Road to Gwinnett County.

SMITH: Let me clarify that. I think from the apartment complex where the assault took place to...

QUESTION: I'm asking about the apartment complex where the suspect was arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a couple miles. Just a couple miles. I'm sorry.

QUESTION: I have a question for Sheriff Freeman. Did -- in the Nichols case, did Judge Barnes or anyone else ask for additional security in that case?

FREEMAN: I don't specifically know that. But any time any security has been asked for, we have provided it.

QUESTION: Do you know if Deputy Hall was aware of the concerns with this particular defendant prior to her taking him to the holding cell?

FREEMAN: That I don't know. It's still under investigation and under review.

QUESTION: Was this woman in Gwinnett County approached in her home? Or was she approached somewhere else (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? And the second question is, does this man now have a different attorney? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WALTERS: I'll address the first part. From all indications, he followed her into the apartment, literally forced his way behind her as she was coming into the apartment.

NAHMIAS: With regard to the federal charge, to my knowledge, he does not have an attorney at this point. If he has an initial appearance, he would be appointed counsel at that time.

QUESTION: Considering that Brian Nichols was -- is suspected of the murders of four different people plus an assault on the fifth person, and acted in such -- suspected of acting in such a hasty way yesterday, do you have any idea why he went so peacefully today?

WALTERS: The only explanation I have got, Randy, is that the force that we presented him with was so overwhelming -- and again, in a tactical situation, that's what you want to do, make the suspect understand that we are in control of the situation, and that there is -- his fate was in his hands.

And I think there was nowhere for him to go. He was totally contained. The force that we had out there was sufficient. He was in a no-win situation. And for whatever reason, he decided that that was the best course of action.

QUESTION: Sheriff Freeman, is it a normal practice to send deputies alone with an inmate? Or was this an exception? FREEMAN: As I said, we were -- now I can turn my focus to reviewing those procedures. And I'm going to set up a task force with the DA's office, U.S. attorney and Chief Pennington and others to look at that.

As you know, I've only been here for a couple months and the jail was my first priority. But now we can look at these other areas to make sure that we have the best security possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to take two more.

QUESTION: Question for the district attorney. We're getting some communication that right now there's public defenders who are seeking access to Mr. Nichols, and they're saying they cannot get access to him. Can you tell us about that?

HOWARD: Well, as I understand it, that might or might not be correct. But at this point, he has not requested a lawyer. And until that request is made, then we will continue as our normal procedure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's take one more. Over here.

QUESTION: Does anyone know what Nichols was doing over the 10 hours from 9:00 to 10:00 am to this mugging at 10:40 pm?

HOWARD: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. One more. Last one. Go ahead. Right here.

QUESTION: With the benefit of hindsight, is there any way along the way that you think there was a missed opportunities to apprehend the suspect?

HOWARD: You might want to address that.

No. We're going to say no.

QUESTION: ...security that is around him now -- is he being held in a special holding cell? Does he need security measures?

HOWARD: For security reasons, we don't want to talk about where he's being held and the conditions of him being held.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you all very much. Thanks a lot.

BAKHTIAR: All right, you've been watching and listening to a live press conference at City Hall East by the Atlanta Police Department, giving more details to how Nichols was apprehended.

We heard from a variety of authorities. One of them was David Nahmias, the U.S. attorney. He said that they are determined to bring the murderers of these four people to justice. And also said that Nichols is being charged with possession of firearm by a person under indictment. Basically this is essentially a holding charge until they can decide exactly what kind of charges will be filed against him both by federal and state.

But the interesting thing came earlier on when Chief Richard Pennington of the Atlanta Police Department took the stand. He also thanked law enforcement agencies for their coordinated efforts, said they couldn't have done it without everybody people pitching in.

And then he took us through a timeline. And he focused the timeline after the green Honda had been found in the parking lot. An interesting twist to all this, because earlier on in the day, everyone had thought that Nichols had escaped in this green Toyota -- excuse me -- Honda from the parking lot that was close to the courtroom. And everyone was looking for this green Honda.

Then the green Honda was discovered on a different level in the parking lot. Somehow, Nichols had ditched that car and had moved on.

What we found out that was new information was that at 10:40 p.m., last night, Nichols did approach two people and assaulted them. Then he went to 926 Kantor Road, that's where he shot -- he shot an Immigrations and Customs Agent, stole his car, I.D., gun and killed him.

Let's go to Gary Tuchman now. He's standing by at the scene of the press conference.

Gary, what can you tell us?

TUCHMAN: Well, the news conference is just wrapping up, Rudi. AS we just heard, the timeline is fascinating but very disturbing. In Atlanta, the subway and train system is called MARTA. MARTA is always trying to get people who live in Atlanta to ride the train.

Well, it appears that Brian Nichols rode the train. He did not take a care. All over Georgia and the southeast, on electronic signs above highways, there were warnings, look out for this green Honda -- look out. Well, that green Honda never left the parking lot where he apparently carjacked. It was just there the whole time. The police really didn't check the parking lot to look for it.

So everyone's looking for this green car. This man, Nichols, who allegedly just killed three people in the courthouse is riding the subway. He's riding it about five stops from the stop right near the Phillips Arena, where the Atlanta Hawks play basketball, and the Atlanta Thrasher play hockey, and he took it all the way to the Buckhead area, which is north of the main part of the city of Atlanta. Buckhead is a section of Atlanta. But he got off there.

What happened over the next 10 hours -- and that was just a question I just asked, we don't know. We don't know what he was doing. But at around 10:40 p.m. Eastern last night the authorities are in this news conference telling us he mugged two tourists who were in town for the S.E.C. basketball tournament. Atlanta is full of tourists who are here for that tournament.

And they say that he mugged them, because he wanted to get money and/or a car from them. He punched one of them in the face, but apparently was unsuccessful in getting a car.

It is then, they say, that he went to the home of David Wilhelm with the Immigrations and Customs Service. He's an assistant special agent in charge, a high-ranking man. You just saw the agent in charge talking about what a good man he was.

We are told from these authorities that Brian Nichols murdered that agent, took his gun, took his badge, took his truck and took off in that vehicle.

It was then, apparently, that he drove to Duluth, Georgia which is about to the Northeast of the Buckhead area. Duluth, Georgia is in the county of Gwinnett County. And it's there that he forced a woman, according to these authorities, into her apartment house and went inside with her.

There was some speculation. Did this woman know him? As you may have heard if you were watching the news conference, they said the woman did not know him. She was being held hostage by him.

Somehow -- we asked this question, how did she get out? We don't know. But she was able to call 911, and said hey, this guy who I have seen on television over the last day in my house.

At that point, authorities showed up in big numbers from Gwinnett County: FBI, from ATF. And they showed up in huge numbers and demanded that he come out and give up.

They were ready for absolutely anything. But to their surprise and to their delight, Brian Nichols, 33-years-old gave up, surrendered, apparently waved a white cloth or a white shirt and walked out.

One of the question asked is why would a guy like this, who allegedly has killed over 4 people over the last 24 hours just give up? And the fact was -- these people think that he probably knew he couldn't get away with everything did. When he saw all those agents outside of this house in Duluth, Georgia, he knew he was no longer getting away with anything. He wasn't, obviously, willing to kill himself. He gave himself up. And he is now in custody in an undisclosed spot.

There's still lots to learn about the situation. We know he'll be appearing in court early this week here in Fulton County, Georgia, in the state court. But the feds are making it clear that right now they're going to prosecute the murder of the federal agent with Immigrations and Customs, that's a federal charge.

Back to you, Rudi.

BAKHTIAR: Also, earlier, Gary, Paul Howard, Fulton County District Attorney was talking. And he said one of the earlier focuses will be on the rape trial where Nichols was headed to yesterday, early morning, before the shooting rampage. What do we know about that?

TUCHMAN: Well, we know that the particular rape trial that was going on will not be taking place anymore, because that jury obviously, is poisoned by what's happened here.

I will tell you, anything can happen. Very unlikely we'll ever see that rape trial occur again. These are much more serious charges. These will carry the penalty most likely of a possibility of the death penalty here in the state of Georgia on the state charges. So I feel it's very unlikely we'll ever see that rape case go to trial again. But potentially it could.

BAKHTIAR: All right. Our Gary Tuchman standing by at the scene. We'll have more on this developing story. As we get information, stand by, we're going to take a break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: Welcome back, everyone. Fulton County officials are planning to review security at the courthouse in the wake of the shootings there. The building's been a feature of downtown Atlanta for more than 90 years now.

Some say the rampage there was a tragedy just waiting to happen, while others defend the building's security measures.

Our Randi Kaye explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Judge Henry Newkirk has been working at the Fulton County Courthouse for more than two decades. He was a friend of Judge Rowland Barnes. The two were sworn in together.

(on camera): Do you feel like security here is enough?

JUDGE HENRY NEWKIRK, FULTON COUNTY STATE COURT: I feel that in the last 23 years that I've been here, security has been adequate. You know, it's not the best and the tightest. I'm not saying we couldn't do a better job, but I think it's a balancing act.

KAYE (voice-over): Judge Newkirk would not go into detail about what he thinks needs to be improved here, but he did talk about security measures now in place.

NEWKIRK: For a citizen, a juror, courthouse employees, that they enter one of three entrances and go through a metal detector, and all baggage, all personal belongings that are in briefcases are examined through an X-ray machine, much like at the airports.

KAYE: There are two sides to the courthouse, old and new. For all courtrooms, judges access secure parking underground in a private elevator to their floor. Judge Barnes' courtroom in the old court building has emergency alarm buttons and all the other security measures of the new court building except one.

NEWKIRK: Our chamber doors are wired to be electronically controlled.

KAYE: Judge Barnes had no electronic keypad. The suspect allegedly went through the judge's chambers to get into the courtroom.

DENNIS SCHEIB, FRIEND OF SLAIN JUDGE: Bad security. Just terrible, terrible security. And it's been going on for years

KAYE: Police officer turned attorney Dennis Scheib was in the courtroom next to Judge Barnes when the shooting happened. Fulton County Court was one of many around the country to beef up security after the Oklahoma City bombing. Still, on a scale of 1 to 10, Scheib gives security here a 1.

SCHEIB: This dependent, he took a gun, he shoots a deputy, he shoots a judge, she shoots a court reporter and he goes outside and he shoots a deputy sheriff walking in the building. This should never have happened security, but security has just been lax for years

KAYE: But the head of the Fulton County Commission says judges feel safe, adding there will be a thorough review of security. Judge Newkirk says there is always at least 1 armed sheriff's deputy present during criminal cases, Fulton County deputies are the only law enforcement officers allowed to carry weapons in the courthouse.

NEWKIRK: I've always enjoyed having armed deputies in the courtroom with me.

KAYE: But should deputies carry guns in the courthouse? After all, that's how police say this suspect got his weapon.

And where were deputies when the suspect fled down eight flights of stairs and out the building. Judge Newkirk hopes his friend's death will expose the security flaws and get them fixed fast.

NEWKIRK: It's always something in the back of my mind. You see it happening in other venues around the country. And I'm aware of it. I'm aware of the possibility of something like this happening. This is a worst case scenario.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: And we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, a quick check of the headlines for you. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAKHTIAR: Here's a quick check of other news happening right now.

Funeral services are over in Littleton, Colorado for a federal judge's mother killed in Chicago. Donna Humphrey was visiting the home of her daughter Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, an intruder shot Humphrey and Lefkow's husband to death on February 28. A man who shot himself in Wisconsin left a suicide note confessing to the killings.

Former President Clinton is expecting to spend a few more days in a New York hospital recovering from Thursday's surgery. Doctors removed scar tissue and fluid in his left lung, a rare complication from his heart bypass operation last September.

And a U.N. envoy tells CNN he received a timetable from Syrian President Assad today for troop withdrawal from Lebanon. Terje Roed- Larsen says the schedule calls for having significant numbers forces out by the end of the month and he'll give details to U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan next week. Unrest over Syrian troops in Lebanon boiled over after last month's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Many Lebanese blame Syria for that killing.

And students across the U.s. are sweating through toughened S.A.T. tests today. The college entrance exam now includes an essay, a grammar section and even harder math. The new highest possible score is 2400. And the test is 45 minutes longer.

And that's all for this hour of CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Straight ahead for you, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profiling Alanis Morissette.

Then at 6:00 Eastern, Carol Lin with more on the capture of the man police say was responsible for a day of terror here in Atlanta.

And then at 7:00 Eastern it's the "CAPITAL GANG."

And I'll be back in just a couple of minutes with the days top stories for you.

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