A shooting and frantic search for explosives
9:57 a.m.: First report of a shooting at the Forsyth County Courthouse in Cumming. The area was quickly secured and the roadways around the courthouse were closed.
11:16 a.m.: Suspect Dennis Marx was shot and killed in a shootout with Forsyth deputies after approaching the courthouse wearing a mask and carrying grenades, law enforcement confirms for the media.
11:22 a.m. : Daniel Rush, the Forsyth Sheriff's deputy wounded in the shooting, is transported to North Fulton Hospital.
11:35 a.m. Buses begin shuttling courthouse and county administration building employees to their cars in satellite lots.
11:42 a.m.: Witness Kim Stephens of Cumming tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she was sitting at a traffic light on West Main Street when she "heard popping noises" and saw an SUV pull up to the front steps of the courthouse. About two minutes later, "all the police started coming and there were a few more shots." She said the SUV appeared to be a Nissan Pathfinder or Armada with tinted windows. "It was on the courthouse as far as it could go — up to the stairs."
11:41 a.m.: Gwinnett bomb squad arrives to search for possible explosives in the area.
11:46 a.m.: A sheriff's sergeant is heard on the radio asking other deputies to tell news crews set up near the courthouse to "stop filming and put their news vehicles out of sight of the front of the courthouse."
12:03 p.m.: Witness Jason Leonard tells the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that after driving up to the courthouse steps, the suspect "actually jumped out of the vehicle with a rifle in his hand, unloaded the rifle, and that's when the officers unloaded on him." Leonard estimated that he heard a total of about 50 gunshots.
12:39 p.m.: Authorities said Marx had not been living in his house for 10 days. Deputies were searching the house for explosives and booby traps.
12:55 p.m.: Forsyth Sheriff Duane Piper said the suspect was throwing homemade smoke grenades, pepper spray grenades and homemade spike sticks in an effort to keep law enforcement personnel from stopping his approach to the courthouse.
