And gun dealer...

CUMMING, Ga. — A man was shot to death on Friday by law enforcement
officials after he brought an arsenal, including an assault rifle and
a large supply of ammunition, to the county courthouse here and tried
to mount what the authorities described as a “frontal assault” on the
building.

Sheriff Duane K. Piper of Forsyth County said that the man, Dennis R.
Marx, who had described himself in a court document as a “Glock
armorer” who took part in gun shows across the South, was killed
Friday during a three-minute firefight with sheriff’s deputies that
briefly transformed part of this quiet Georgia city into a
battleground. Mr. Marx had been scheduled to appear in court for a
hearing about a pending case involving drug and weapons charges.

“It was very close to being a major catastrophe,” Sheriff Piper said
at a Friday afternoon news conference after reviewing surveillance
tapes of the confrontation, which he said would eventually be made
public.

Sheriff Piper described a chilling plot that the authorities believed
had been in the works for days.

According to the sheriff, Mr. Marx drove to the courthouse on Friday
morning, set down spikes intended to puncture tires — an effort to
hinder the emergency response — and wanted to drive through the
building’s front entrance. An unidentified deputy sheriff, a 25-year
veteran of the force, was outside, and Sheriff Piper said Mr. Marx had
tried to hit the man with his vehicle.

The deputy was wounded in the leg as he exchanged gunfire with Mr.
Marx, who fired from his vehicle, where the sheriff said he had
amassed smoke and tear gas grenades. Other deputies, including some
inside the courthouse, quickly joined the gunfight, and Mr. Marx, who
Sheriff Piper said was carrying explosive devices, was killed in the
volley of bullets.

“He was shooting into the courthouse; they were shooting back out,”
Sheriff Piper said. “The deputies actually took the time not just to
stand right there at the front door. They actually went into other
offices and broke windows and were shooting from different places
inside the courthouse to get different angles on him.”

Investigators said they believed that Mr. Marx, who had water and
plastic handcuffs in his vehicle, had intended to take control of the
courthouse. He also had two handguns, Sheriff Piper said.

“We have to assume that he was there to occupy the courthouse,” the
sheriff said, although he acknowledged that the authorities did not
know whether Mr. Marx was after a specific person.

After the shootout, the area surrounding the courthouse in this city
of about 5,600 was closed to traffic. Law enforcement vehicles blocked
roads, and crime scene tape was visible.

Officials were planning to search Mr. Marx’s home into the night, and
Sheriff Piper said investigators had found explosives on the property.

Mr. Marx, who worked for the Transportation Security Administration
more than a decade ago, had a history of interactions with the
sheriff’s office, and he filed a federal lawsuit last year against the
office over a 2011 raid on his home that he said had violated his
constitutional rights.

Ann T. Shafer, a lawyer who represented Mr. Marx for about six months
in his criminal proceeding, told WXIA-TV that her former client was a
gun trader who had made veiled threats to her while she was handling
his case.

“I thought he was, at times, a little not stable in his understanding
of the law or the consequences, and always seemed dissatisfied with
whatever was going on,” said Ms. Shafer, who said that Mr. Marx had
dismissed her because he was unsatisfied with her work.

The wounded deputy was being treated and was expected to survive.
Sheriff Piper said the deputy was responsible for preventing more
bloodshed.

“It’d be a guess to think how many lives he saved,” the sheriff said.
“Had he not engaged him right there, Mr. Marx’s intention was to get
in that front door and take hostages.”