Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303280063
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PIERRE THOMAS THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In 60 seconds, the building was to be secured, according to new details of the commando-style plan and its aftermath provided by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sources.
When that minute had passed, however, it was clear that something had gone terribly wrong. Now, 27 days later, the Branch Davidian compound near Waco is still ringed by a small army of law enforcement officers, waiting for David Koresh and his followers to emerge.
Officials have said they believe Koresh was tipped off about the raid, which was launched by about 100 ATF agents to seize the arsenal.
As the federal firearms agents arrived at Koresh's fortress, an unarmed man stood in the compound's front door. The agents announced that they were there to search the premises. Simultaneously, three heavily armed entry teams tried to make their way inside.
The door closed. Bullets began flying everywhere.
Three agents went through a second-story window, then worked their way down the hall to the cult's gun room. At that point, the walls around them literally splintered, as unseen cult members sprayed gunfire from adjoining rooms.
Meanwhile, on the outside, Robert J. Williams, one of the agents providing cover, was hit by gunfire believed to be coming from the compound's observation tower. He fell. Then he got up, firing to protect his colleagues, only to be shot again - this time, fatally.
For 45 minutes, the ATF agents encountered "withering" gunfire, said David Troy, ATF spokesman in Waco.
"Some of the agents recalled that at first they thought that bullets were going into the walls [of the compound], but then they realized the bullets were coming out of the walls at them," said ATF agent Rick Cook, who counseled some of the wounded officers. "It was surreal."
One bullet pierced the head of a federal agent shortly after he left a cattle truck driven to the compound. He died a short time later. Other agents were wounded as they made their way to the compound, as Branch Davidians blasted away and threw grenades.
The agents shot back, but were at a disadvantage because under standard police procedure they were allowed to shoot only at clearly identified assailants. In addition, radio communications among the agents may have been disrupted as a result of the mayhem, according to a source.
Shots hit a helicopter flying overhead as a diversion, according to ATF and military officials.
In a house about 260 yards away that had been used as a residence by undercover agents, ATF snipers began firing.
Several Davidians were killed in the gunfight and an undisclosed number wounded.
ATF emergency medical technicians assigned to each tactical team found themselves targets as well as the plan continued to fall apart. In the face of the gunfire, technicians and agents scrambled to help fallen agents.
An ATF agent in the house with the bureau's snipers telephoned the compound and negotiated a cease-fire that would prove nearly as unnerving as the previous gunfire, ATF sources said.
The agents, which included men and women, would have to put down their weapons and step into the clear view and range of the sect members, who moments earlier had been shooting at them.
"Some of the agents will never forget that," Cook said.
Later, at the hospital, Cook talked with some of the wounded. "Everybody was in a state of shock and disbelief. They knew it was a tragedy and that ATF had suffered a severe loss. We had to tell them that some of their buddies had made it and that others didn't make it."
Four agents died and 15 were wounded. "The other people who didn't get shot were suffering severe reactions," Cook said, "ranging from almost comatose to extreme anger."
ATF's actions on that day almost a month ago have been debated endlessly in the media. Why did the agency rely so heavily on the element of surprise, knowing that a local newspaper, the Waco Tribune-Herald, had done its own investigation and was aware that the agency was planning some sort of operation?
Did agents ignore two press vehicles parked about a quarter of a mile away from the compound that should have tipped them off that their plan had been compromised? Did the sound of an approaching military helicopter alert the cult?
ATF officials have said they acted as they did because, based on intelligence information, they were concerned about the potential for mass suicide and the possibility that Koresh was planning an assault on the Waco community. They also were concerned that a planned series by the newspaper would provoke Koresh into violence.
Detailed answers await Treasury Department inquiries and possible congressional hearings, which will begin only after the standoff ends.
The operation, in addition to loss of life, has cost at least $5 million in federal funds, according to ATF and FBI officials. Federal firearms agents and the FBI have spent about $182,000 a day for lodging, food, equipment and other expenses to conclude what has evolved into one of the most costly search warrants in history.
Even when the confrontation ends, the spending will not cease. The ATF has established a temporary field division in Waco staffed by bureau agents and the Texas Rangers to gather evidence and help guide the case through the legal system. The projected budget for the division over 19 months is $2.2 million.
In addition, federal law enforcement agencies will have to reimburse the military for the operating costs, possibly hundreds of dollars per hour, for borrowed equipment ranging from tents and cots to tanks.
"This is unique," said John C. Killorin, an ATF spokesman. "This is larger and has gone on longer than anything we have seen before. It's a huge operation."
by CNB