March 1, 1993, Monday, Final Edition
4 Agents Killed, 16 Hurt in Raid on Cult;
Standoff Ensues at Texas Site
BYLINE: Joan Biskupic, Pierre G. Thomas, Washington Post Staff Writers
SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A1
LENGTH: 1744 words
Four federal agents were killed and 16 other agents were injured yesterday during a gun battle that erupted when more than 100 law enforcement officers began a long-planned raid on the compound of a heavily armed religious cult near Waco, Tex.
After a morning firefight, which witnesses said lasted between 30 and 45 minutes, the federal agents negotiated a cease-fire with the cult members, enabling the government officers to remove the dead and wounded agents from the compound.
In the evening, a second gunfight broke out as three men from the sect apparently fired on three agents at a police observation post near the compound. A federal official said one member of the sect was killed, a second was wounded, and a third was taken prisoner by police. A 2-year-old child also was dead inside the compound, according to the sect's leader.
The standoff continued early this morning as federal and local police officers ringed the 77-acre headquarters of the religious cult, which calls itself the Branch Davidians. Federal agents told reporters they would negotiate with the cult members for as long as possible but did not rule out further use of force.
Several hundred federal and local police were on the scene and federal officials described negotiations as "difficult."
In a telephone interview last night broadcast live on CNN, the group's leader, Vernon Howell, who began calling himself David Koresh two years ago, said he and several other adults had been wounded. He later told a Dallas radio station, "I'm bleeding bad."
In a rambling telephone conversation begun by Howell with CNN amid the standoff, the cult leader said he would begin releasing children two at a time if a local radio station played his religious message. Howell, said to believe he is Jesus Christ, suggested in the CNN conversation that he thinks he has unique knowledge to interpret the Bible, especially the Book of Revelation.
Late last night, Howell began permitting children to leave the compound. Among them was a little boy in a cowboy hat who waved to police and reporters watching as a caravan of eight vehicles moved down a gravel road away from the property in a pouring rain. Some older people were in other cars.
Howell, in a shaking voice, had told a Waco radio station he was resting on blankets soaked with blood from wounds to his abdomen and arm. He said he wanted to release the children last night so his grandchildren could spread the gospel.
Officials said they believed Howell had released eight children by midnight, when a convoy of 11 police vehicles headed up the gravel road toward the compound. One person in the convoy identified the group as a hostage negotiating team from Austin. The team was equipped with radios and was towing several spotlights.
By 1 a.m. today, another 11 vehicles, some stenciled "SWAT" for special weapons and tactics, had joined the negotiating team.
The first shootout started sometime after 9 a.m. yesterday, when about 100 officers -- agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and local police forces -- were preparing to raid the compound. They intended to arrest heavily armed members of the Branch Davidians, a religious group that split from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church more than 60 years ago.
Federal agents were using helicopters to back up the group assault on the fortified cluster of buildings, a raid that had been planned for months, officials said. "As soon as they saw us, they opened fire," said Ted Royster, ATF agent in charge. Royster said it appeared that members were "waiting for us." But Howell said in the television interview that agents fired on church members first.
Two of the agents were killed on the roof of the main building during the assault and one was killed on the ground. ATF officials said they did not know where the fourth was killed.
An ATF spokesman said the agents intended to arrest Howell for illegal possession of fully automatic firearms and explosive devices. The agents also had a warrant to search for military-style assault rifles, machine guns, grenades and parts of explosive devices.
On Saturday, the Waco Tribune-Herald began a seven-part series of articles about Howell and his followers, reporting that they had stockpiled a large arsenal of high-powered weapons and that Howell and others had sexually abused members' children. The newspaper said Howell had claimed to have at least 15 wives.
Although Howell was quoted as denying various charges, he also said, "We're doing what we're doing, and nobody's going to stop us." Howell, 33, also reportedly said, "If the Bible is true, then I'm Christ. But so what? Look at 2,000 years ago. What's so great about being Christ? A man nailed to the cross . . . ."
At least 75 men, women and children lived at the camp about 10 miles northeast of Waco in an area known as Mount Carmel, although Howell said in the CNN interview that there were far more than 75 in the compound.
Federal officials had planned a surprise attack to occur just after cult members broke from a Sunday morning service, when the men moved, without weapons, to various locations on the compound to do chores.
But as agents approached the entrance of the multi-storied compound, which has a watchtower, they immediately came under fire.
One of the ATF officials said that the cult members apparently had been tipped to the strategy, which was based on a months-long investigation of the cult and its compound. Howell told CNN he indeed had known the agents were coming to arrest him.
"They came under heavy and sustained firepower for over half an hour," said ATF spokesman John C. Killorin. "We were literally trying to move into position when they opened fire."
Reporters near the scene at the time said the agents had parked their vehicles right in front of the main building and were trying to get in a front gate when the shooting started.
A high-level ATF source said law enforcement officials had ruled out ringing the compound from a distance in favor of the direct assault that resulted in the four deaths and many wounded.
"The difficulty in this operation is that the group posed a threat not only to the community but also to themselves," the ATF official said, adding that if agents set up a good distance from the facility, Howell's followers might kill themselves, as happened in the 1978 Jonestown massacre in the tiny South American nation of Guyana. Nearly 1,000 followers of the Rev. Jim Jones died after drinking poison or were murdered by fellow adherents. The mass suicide occurred after a group investigating Jonestown led by Rep. Leo Ryan (D-Calif.) was attacked by some of Jones's lieutenants. Several, including Ryan, were killed.
About a half an hour into the morning firefight, agents were able to establish contact with the cult leaders and negotiated the cease-fire.
Rick Bradfield, news director at the local television station, KWTX-TV, said one of the station's reporters used his Ford Bronco to drive "four or five wounded agents out from the area. One was on the hood, some hanging onto the back bumper."
Ambulances were coming and going, he said. Hospitals reported that they had called in all levels of personnel to deal with the carnage and the local Red Cross was seeking blood donors.
Two agents were pronounced dead upon arrival at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center. Another agent died at the hospital. The fourth agent was taken to and died at Providence Hospital. Other officers were being treated at both hospitals for large-caliber gunshot wounds.
The ATF last night identified the dead agents as Steve Willis, 32, of Houston; Robert J. Williams, 26, of Little Rock, Ark.; and Conway LaBleu, 30, and Todd McKeehan, 28, both of New Orleans.
The second confrontation began about 6 p.m. when sect members emerged from a building, headed toward the agents and began firing, according to ATF officials. They said agents returned fire, killing one sect member, wounding another and capturing the third.
When Howell made his phone call to CNN about two hours later, he did not mention the incident. He quoted heavily from scripture and refused to answer specific questions about what was going on inside the buildings.
In describing the morning assault, he said, "They started firing at me . . . . I fell back in the doorway and we started firing back at them."
Howell also said that the several adults who were wounded did not want to leave his company.
"Nobody wants to listen to my doctrine," he said of outsiders.
The Branch Davidians were founded in California about 60 years ago and moved in 1935 to Waco. The Texas community of 160,000 people is the home of Baylor University, run by Southern Baptists.
Howell, who joined the Branch Davidians in 1980, took control in 1987.
The sect's violent ways have made news before. In 1987, several of its members got into a gun brawl over its leadership. Howell and seven other cult members were accused of attempted murder. The seven reportedly were acquitted; charges against Howell were dismissed after a mistrial.
Several months ago, ATF received information that the Branch Davidians were accumulating machine guns and explosives, ATF officials said. The general public is prohibited from possessing automatic weapons.
ATF officials said they prepared for yesterday's raid after receiving additional information about the level of stockpiling at the compound and hearing that Howell and others were making inflammatory statements. The officials also said they thought the group might take action after the newspaper series started because they heard the articles would be critical of the sect. One source said the raid had been scheduled for today but was moved up 24 hours at the last minute.
Bob Lott, editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald, said yesterday that about a month ago an ATF official had asked the newspaper to delay publication of the series. "We waited about a month for other considerations, but we also listened to their concerns." Lott said.
"I don't believe the publication of the series was the stimulus," Lott said in a telephone interview. In a prepared statement he had said, "After several days of careful consideration at the newspaper, we decided it was time to let the public know of this menace just outside our city."
Staff writer Mary Jordan and special correspondents Michael Williamson and Erin Redmond contributed to this report from Waco.
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