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| Assault on Courthouse! |
A man armed with explosives and an assault rifle might have entered a north Georgia courthouse Friday if not for a deputy who was wounded in the shootout with the gunman, Forsyth County Sheriff Duane Piper said.
Authorities killed Dennis
Marx outside the courthouse, Piper said during a news conference,
adding that the gunman planned to wreak more havoc once inside the
building.
"Mr. Marx's intention was to get in that front door and take hostages," he said.
He said that Marx acted alone, and "there is no danger to the public."
A witness' video shows officers, guns drawn, closing in on a silver
Nissan on a wide walkway in front of the courthouse. Orange smoke spews
from a device near the vehicle.
A shot rings out, then
another. Two more shots are fired before a 15-second torrent of
gunshots. Dozens of officers then surround the vehicle, as three
construction workers peek out from behind their backhoe at a
construction site across the street.
Piper said the suspect
began a "full frontal assault" on the building by driving up, throwing
out "homemade spike strips" to delay any police response, and trying to
run over a deputy, Piper said.
The deputy opened fire,
and Marx returned fire through his windshield, hitting the deputy in the
leg, the sheriff said. He also threw smoke bombs and gas grenades --
perhaps using pepper gas -- during the attack and had flex ties and
water in his possession, according to the sheriff. Other explosive
devices and "a lot of ammunition" were found on him and in his vehicle,
he said.
Deputies, some from inside the courthouse, engaged in a roughly 90-second shootout with Marx, killing him, Piper said.
"The SWAT team, which
happened to be close by on their way to another function, also pulled up
about 30 seconds into this gunfire fight and they engaged Mr. Marx, and
Mr. Marx is dead with multiple gunshot wounds," the sheriff said.
The wounded deputy, who
has not been identified, was shot while stopping Marx before he could
get inside. The deputy is fine, the sheriff said.
The situation "was solved (with) that deputy's actions," Piper said of the 30-year veteran.
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