Sheriff: Man planned assault at Ga. courthouse

CUMMING, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say a man who shot and wounded a deputy outside a courthouse in Georgia was heavily armed and planned to take hostages.

Forsyth County Sheriff Duane Piper says suspect Dennis Marx was shot and killed Friday. He says Marx drove a vehicle up to the courthouse steps, threw out homemade “spike strips” designed to flatten car tires and fired at a deputy who came out of the courthouse, shooting the officer in the leg. Police say the deputy is OK.

Piper says Marx had homemade and commercially made explosives inside his vehicle and on his body. He says authorities don’t know a motive.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and federal authorities were helping to ensure there were no explosives inside the courthouse. Piper says authorities have found Marx’s home and believe it could be booby-trapped.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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