Rape defendant kills judge, two others in Atlanta courtroom

Hundreds of officers in cruisers and helicopters swarmed the area in the search of the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Brian Nichols. The suspect, a former computer technician, had raised alarm a day earlier when he was found in court with two handmade knives hidden in his shoes, prosecutors said.

The rampage led to chaos around the city, with schools, restaurants and office buildings locking down amid fears that the suspect might strike again. Nichols' mug shot was plastered all over TV screens, and highway message boards issued descriptions of the stolen vehicle.

Late Friday, police reported that the car had been found in the same downtown parking lot that it had been stolen from. Someone working in the area discovered the vehicle, Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said early Saturday.

"He went from one level of the parking lot to another, apparently," police spokesman John Quigley said early Saturday. "We don't know if any other cars are missing. I don't know if the person took public transportation or took another vehicle. There's lots of options."

Quigley said authorities were reviewing surveillance tapes for leads.

"Mr. Nichols is considered armed and extremely dangerous and should not be approached," Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman said. "We are not going to rest until we find him."

Nichols got the semiautomatic pistol by overpowering the female deputy while he was being led down a corridor in the Fulton County Courthouse, Assistant Police Chief Alan Dreher said. After shooting the deputy in the face, the suspect then went to the courtroom, held about a dozen people at bay for a short time and shot and killed Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and court reporter Julie Brandau, authorities said.