In point of FACT, the Waco police have already SAID they were there before the shooting started.
Officially -- in their facebook page, in an official release that is no longer available at the link where I originally found it thanks to don-o, who ALSO cut-and-pasted the entire text on FR. What you see below was cut-and-pasted from the Waco PD facebook page to Free Republic BY ME on June 16:
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OFFICIAL Waco PD statement:
The "Twin Peaks" incident has resulted in an investigation that is unprecedented in the history of the Waco Police Department and McLennan County. Since the initial event, the investigation is a large and complex investigation, involving many entities. It is our intent to release regular updates, but the pace of developments is often beyond our control. We also do not want to release any information that would jeopardize the ongoing criminal investigation. We appreciate the outpouring of community support that we have received during the past weeks and we will continue to serve our community as we investigate this case.
The following is our most current update from the Twin Peaks Shooting Investigation that occurred on 5-17-15:
The number of officers initially assigned to the Twin Peaks event on 5-17-15 are as follows: There were 16 uniformed Waco Police Department Officers to include 5 Supervisors (3 Sergeants, 1 Commander and an Assistant Chief). Included in that number was a Tactical Element (SWAT Officers) assigned and present. None of the Officers were assigned in a sniper capacity and all Officers were in their vehicles at the time the suspects began the shooting. Those Officers were stationed in the parking lots adjacent to the Twin Peaks and were visible to patrons entering the Twin Peaks parking lot. There were 6 marked Waco Police units and 4 unmarked Waco Police vehicles. This does not include DPS vehicles. There were also Texas Department of Public Safety Officers assigned to the event as well.
As of this release, there are a total of 44 shell casings recovered from the Twin Peaks scene. This number does not include the revolver rounds fired by non-law enforcement shooters. Those casings are still being counted. 12 of those casings were from the rifles of 3 Waco Officers who discharged their weapons in defense of their selves or a third party. The Waco SWAT Officers’ weapons are .223 caliber rifles that are capable of full-auto fire; Officers only fired in semi-auto mode during the incident. There was no full-auto gunfire from any of the Officers at the scene. As is normal practice, rifles carried by the Waco SWAT Officers were deployed with sound suppressors. No other Officers fired rounds from any other weapon during the incident. The Officers involved in the shooting have been assigned administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation.
The number of weapons discovered during our search of the crime scene has increased since the first release and may continue to increase. The weapon count at this point in time is at least 475 weapons. This includes 151 firearms, 12 of which were long guns. The weapons recovered include: knives, brass knuckles, batons, tomahawks, weighted weapons, a hatchet, stun guns, bats, clubs, a machete, a pipe, an ax, pepper spray, and a chain. Many of these were hastily hidden and some were found using metal detectors as they were buried beneath the grass in the dirt. The involved firearms have been transferred to the ATF for analysis. Videos of the incident have been transferred to FBI Investigators for analysis. Full autopsy and ballistics analysis is being conducted by outside labs and the completed and final results have not been returned to us as of this release.
The special organizational structure of the Twin Peaks Investigation as it continues is this. There is a Commander assigned over the two Criminal Investigation Units (Special Crimes and SAFE-Support, Abatement, Forfeiture and Enforcement) investigating the cases that have developed from the shootings. There have been 4 additional Officers assigned to Special Crimes and 5 additional Officers assigned to SAFE to assist in the workload. This is in addition to the Detectives permanently assigned to those units. There are a total of 21 Officers and Supervisors assigned to the Twin Peaks Investigation.
Besides the addition of these Officers, we continue to receive support and investigation assistance from the following agencies; Texas Department of Public Safety including their Criminal Investigation Division and the Texas Rangers, Federal Bureau of Investigation-FBI, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms-ATF, Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission- TABC and the McLennan County District Attorney office.
We initially impounded 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles. As of June 10, 2015, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners. In addition to those, 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lien holders due to repossession.
At this point, we have recovered over 1000 pieces of evidence from the crime scene, the Convention Center (where suspects were initially detained) and the jail. Search warrants are still being issued in this case in reference to some of the property held as evidence.
There were 239 persons detained at the crime scene as result of the Twin Peaks shootings. At least 62 individuals were released from the crime scene or from the Convention Center without charges being filed. 177 persons were arrested that night or subsequently on warrants obtained by Detectives.
“At least 62 individuals were released from the crime scene or from the Convention Center without charges being filed. “
I had previously stated 69 but since I can’t locate that source I will go with ‘at least 62’.
Not surprising, but no mention of any undercover officers. Nor is there any claim that the list is exhaustive.
How many Feds, undercovers, or confidential informants were on scene?