Fulton County Judge Rowland Barnes, a female court reporter, and a sheriff's deputy were killed about 9:00 am at the county courthouse. A fourth victim, also a sheriff's deputy was admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital. A reporter for the Atlanta Journal was pistol-whipped and assaulted during as the suspect attempted to escape.

The incident began shortly after 9:00 am as the suspect, Brian Nichols, was being brought to the courthouse. Nichols had been taken to a room to change from his prison outfit to street clothes for his trial. As he was walking down a corridor to the courtroom he overpowered Sheriff's Deputy Cynthia Hall, hitting the 51-year old grandmother in the face. He then entered the courtroom.

Judge Rowland Barnes had begun hearing a rape case against the suspect when Nichols entered. For a brief time Nichols held the courtroom at bay, shooting Judge Rowland Barnes and Julie Brandau, his court reporter. Both Judge Barnes and Brandau died at the scene. Sgt. Hoyt Teasley, who confronted the suspect as he left the courthouse, was also shot and killed. As the suspect fled he carjacked 5 automobiles in rapid succession. The last car, a Green 1997 Honda SUV, was stolen from Atlanta Journal feature reporter Don Briant at about 9:20am. Nichols pistol-whipped the reporter.

Nichols did not go very far in Briant's vehicle. It was found on a different level of the parking gargage. He left the parking deck on foot and used public transportation to get to Buckhead.

Suspect Nichols then stole U. S. Customs agent David Wilhelm's truck, killing Wilhelm. He drove the truck to Duluth, Georgia (Gwinnett County) where he abandoned it and suprised Ashley Smith as she was entering her apartment at 2 a.m. After an 11-hour ordeal Nichols released the woman so that she could check on her baby. Upon leaving the apartment, she immediately called 911. A contingent of heavily armed Gwinnett County police arrived, immediately surrounding the apartement. As the police were in the process of evacuating the building Nichols began waving a white flag out of the window. He was taken into custody and turned over to FBI agents, who returned him to Atlanta.