David Gray Wilhelm, 40, was an Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the Department of Homeland Security - Immigration and Customs Enforcement and had served with the Customs Service for 18 years. On the evening of March 11, 2005, he was at the site where his new home was being built in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood when he encountered a fugitive who had already carried out a deadly rampage earlier that day.

That same day the suspect had beaten a sheriff’s deputy at the Fulton County Jail and then, in a courtroom where he was to face trial on multiple violent felonies, murdered the presiding Superior Court Judge, a court reporter, and Fulton County Sheriff’s Sergeant Hoyt Teasley. When Wilhelm confronted the fugitive at the construction site, the suspect identified him as a federal agent and shot and killed him, then took Wilhelm’s service weapon, badge, and personal vehicle. The stolen vehicle was later recovered near an apartment complex; the suspect forced his way into an apartment there and held a woman hostage for several hours before she escaped and called for help. Responding SWAT officers surrounded the complex and, after a brief standoff, took the suspect into custody.

Wilhelm was survived by his wife, parents, and siblings. Does anyone have memories of Wilhelm’s service or information about his life in Atlanta?