A shooting outside the Forsyth County Courthouse in Cumming, Georgia, became a shootout as police killed a man armed with an assault rifle Friday morning.
Earlier, suspect Dennis Marx pulled up in front of the courthouse and shot and wounded Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Rush in the leg during a confrontation, Forsyth County Sheriff Duane Piper told reporters.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Rush had a broken fibula and tibia and is in surgery.
"He saved several lives today," Piper told the AJC. "The GBI, FBI, ATF and local deputies were at the suspect's house, but have not made entry yet. Investigators are being cautious due to the possibility of booby traps."
Marx had been involved in a legal dispute with the sheriff's department. He used smoke and pepper-gas grenades during the fight, and placed "spike strips" down to make himself harder to reach, Piper said.
"Mr. Marx was shooting at the deputy through the windshield and hit the deputy in the leg," Piper said at a news conference. "Other deputies from inside the courthouse came out and engaged him with their firearms."
Authorities found extra ammunition, water, and plastic strips when they searched Marx's vehicle.
"We don't know his motive right now but he came prepared to stay a while," Piper told reporters. "We have to assume he was there to occupy the courthouse. The only way I can describe it is a frontal assault."
Marx had been scheduled to attend a Friday hearing on drug-related charge, according to a news release.
"Mr. Marx's intention was to
get in that front door and take hostages," Piper told CNN.
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