Posted on 09/14/2016 7:31:19 PM PDT by Elderberry
Three Waco police officers were cleared Wednesday of wrongdoing in the May 17, 2015, Twin Peaks shootout that left nine people dead and 18 wounded.
“Our department, along with numerous local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, has worked tirelessly on the still ongoing investigation of Twin Peaks,” Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said in a statement. “We have completed an exhaustive internal investigation on the officer involved portion of the incident which was reviewed by the Texas Rangers. The three officers have been cleared by the investigation, and the action of the grand jury affirms those findings.”
The grand jury no-billed 15-year veteran officer Andy O’Neal, 11-year veteran officer Michael Bucher and 9-year veteran officer Heath Jackson in the Wednesday hearing. McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna and two Texas Rangers presented the cases to the grand jury, Reyna said.
“These officers acted professionally under very difficult circumstances,” Waco police interim Chief Frank Gentsch said in a statement. “I’m glad to have this caliber of officers protecting our city. I appreciate the job conducted by the department investigators, the Texas Rangers, the McLennan County DA’s Office and the grand jury in this case.”
The officers will immediately return to full duty, Gentsch said. Swanton did not immediately return a voicemail.
Four of the people killed in the shootout and one of the wounded were struck with bullets from .223-caliber rifles, the only type of firearms police used at the scene, according to an Associated Press report. Two of the bikers killed were also struck with other types of bullets, according to the AP report.
It is unclear whether bikers fired the same caliber of bullets. Twelve long guns were reportedly recovered from Twin Peaks, which could include rifles.
Brent Stroman, Waco’s police chief at the time of the shootout, has said three officers fired a total of 12 shots. No other law enforcement officers fired their weapons, Stroman has said, and the rifles were used in a semi-automatic setting during the shootout, not fully automatic.
Stroman has said the three officers were on administrative leave for about two months after the shootout and then were placed on administrative duty.
Authorities confiscated about 475 weapons from Twin Peaks, including 151 guns, in addition to knives, brass knuckles, batons, tomahawks, weighted weapons, a hatchet, stun guns, bats, clubs, a machete, a pipe, an ax, pepper spray and a chain.
Police arrested 177 bikers after the shootout, and 154 have since been indicted.
So we know they shot, that’s all we know.
I went through every wound in every autopsy. Only one I could find that was obviously handgun.
The Waco Police Department said in a released that 475 weapons were seized following the incident. The number includes 151 firearms, 12 of which were long guns. Other weapons recovered included knives, brass knuckles, batons, tomahawks, a hatchet, stun guns, bats, clubs, a machete, a pipe, an ax, pepper spray and a chain.
I wonder how many items in my truck's tool box would be considered weapons.
You sound afraid. Better not go outside.
It’s a family plaza until you want it to be a breastaurant. I love the two-facedness.
It was outside the breastaurant ... in a family plaza ...
Thanks for posting this.
A family plaza with a breastaurant in it
The gang fight was outside
The gang fight was outside
Manuel Issac Rodriguez, 40, Allen, one gunshot wound in the head and one in the back. Head: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223; Back: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223
Matthew Mark Smith, 27, Keller, one gunshot wound in the back and one in the abdomen.
Back: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223; Abdomen: Not Determined
Jesus Delgado Rodriguez, 65, New Braunfels, one gunshot wound to the head and one in the back. Head: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223; Trunk: Undertermined
Richard Matthew Jordan II, 31, Pasadena, one gunshot wound to the head. Head: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223
Richard Vincent Kirschner Jr., 47, Wylie, one gunshot wound to the top of the head, one to the left knee and one in the buttocks. Knee: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223; Buttocks: Small Caliber .223 or .22
Wayne Lee Campbell, 43, Fort Worth, one gunshot wound to the head. Trunk: Small Caliber .223 or .22
Daniel Raymond Boyett, 44, Waco, shot two times in the head. Head: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223; Abdomen: Medium Caliber NOT from police .223; Head: Undetermined
Charles Wayne Russell, 46, Tyler, shot once in the chest. Chest: Small Caliber .223 or .22
Jacob Lee Rhyne, 39, Ranger, shot once in the neck and once in the abdomen.Neck: Undertermined; Abdomen: Undetermined
Spaz. Arm: Not Available ... yet!
“I went through every wound in every autopsy. Only one I could find that was obviously handgun.”
Wounds don’t determine caliber. Recovered bullets determine caliber. Please review the autopsies for relevant data.
We went through this months ago. Wounds reveal the energy of the round rifle vs handgun.
“We went through this months ago. Wounds reveal the energy of the round rifle vs handgun.”
I must have missed that. Can you repost your findings?
Offhand, one of the wounds failed to penetrate the abdominal wall. That one is clearly handgun. The rest rifle.
“Offhand, one of the wounds failed to penetrate the abdominal wall. That one is clearly handgun. The rest rifle.”
Offhand I would say you are incorrect.
“That one is clearly handgun. The rest rifle.”
I reviewed all the wounds caused by med/large caliber bullets. None can be excluded from being from a handgun.
Well in my eight years of experience operating on Neurosurgical cases of the head and neck I learned quite a bit. Also I have books on my shelf such as I referenced the last time we had this discussion. If I want to know something about electrical circuits I will look you up.
Believe whatever you want, he’ll, believe in the Easter Bunny or Obama’s Unicorns. I will say this, in all those years I literally cannot recall the number of Gun Shot Wounds I have scrubbed on. I can remember the number of rifle wounds I scrubbed. Zero. In eight years of scrubbing cases in St. Louis, Camden, New Jersey, and Chicago.
Since you can’t get what every hunter or surgeon understands about energy transfer to tissue let us try another approach.
Several years ago I spent a few years shooting in handgun competition so I have a little familiarity for training for combat handgunning. In this case of Twin Peaks shooting almost everyone that was struck by a bullet was killed outright. I recall reading of one victim who still retains a bullet or a fragment and there may have been some that we’re transported to hospital but the majority went straight to the morgue.
For your opinion to correlate with fact two things need to be true. One, that amateur hand gunners would shoot for the brainstem as a primary target. Two, they were justified in doing so as evidenced by the superbly inerrant marksmanship they accomplished. Find any, and I mean ANY instructor who teaches combat hand gunners of ANY level of experience that teaches people to place their first shot in the brainstem and I will yield. In spite of the fact that you claim a parking lot full of hooligans did, indeed, accomplish this miraculous feat of handgunning excellence. Sorry, no way.
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