Posted on 08/21/2013 8:04:33 AM PDT by marktwain
When I first heard the reports of a pistolero making a long shot, stopping a mass murder and saving the life of a police officer a year ago, I knew that I would work to find the details if the possibility were offered. I found that opportunity and was able to answer many of the questions that came to mind at the time. After I had interviewed Vic Stacy, I told him that I would wait until the Grand Jury delivered a no bill before writing about what happened. This is the story of the Peach House Gunfight . . .
On the 29th that temper boiled over into murder over a dispute about dog droppings. Conner had been arguing with David Michael House, 58 and Valentina Martinez Calaci, 53. The couple owned two dogs and had arrived from Arizona a few weeks earlier. Conner left the two, went back to his fifth wheel trailer, procured a 9mm pistol and returned to the couples RV. There he shot House, who fell within 20 feet of the RV.
Valentina fled, but was pursued by Conner who shot her, too. She fell to the ground only feet away from the RV of the friend who called Stacy. Valentina had a cell phone in her hand, and had not yet died when Conner approached and fired another shot, execution style.
Stacy pushed the pistol contained in a leather holster of his own making under his shirt so as not to draw attention to himself and went to his friends aid. As Stacy went out the door of his trailer, he passed a scoped Bushmaster AR-15 with a loaded 30-round magazine. He later reflected on that fact and said that maybe he should have grabbed the rifle, but said that as it turned out, the pistol was sufficient.
Stacy arrived at his friends RV. He had seen Conner come out of his fifth wheel with a scoped lever action rifle. His friend told him that he thought that Conner had done the shooting. They saw Conner, rifle in hand, put a tree between himself and the park entrance as they heard an approaching siren. It was Seargent Steven Means of the Early Police Department. He turned into the Peach House RV park and stopped, little more than 50 feet from from where Conner stood behind a ten inch diameter elm tree.
Stacy could clearly see Conner, framed on the left by the Elm and on the right by a utility pedestal. The elm was between Conner and Seargent Means. Valencias body was only 15 feet to Stacys right, the RV whose hood he was resting on was mostly to his left.
Conner turned his attention back to Seargent Means, who was continuing to fire.
Stacy came back up over the RV hood and cocking the Python, fired four more times at the prone Conner, single action. Stacy counted his shots, as he didnt want to run the revolver dry and didnt have spare ammunition with him. He stopped with one round remaining. Seargent Means was also still firing. After Stacy fired the four shots, there was no more movement from Conner. One of Stacys shots had hit the framing elm tree dead center. Stacy thinks the other three shots hit Conner in the abdomen.
How far was the famous shot that put Conner on the ground? Vic Stacy had a 100 foot tape measure and he and I measured the shot. One hundred and sixty-nine feet, just over 56 yards. While this is only a third of the much-reported media figure of 165 yards, its still an impressive shot. Stacy still thinks he connected with three of the following three shots, but he wasnt allowed near Conners body to find out. I havent seen the coroners report, so we dont know for sure. With the Python and its remaining cartridge impounded, Stacy couldnt say for certain at the time what brand of ammunition he was using.
Vic Stacy is a retired welder who currently works making leather products. He said that if people are interested in his leather products, he can be reached at . I asked if being a welder helped him as a shooter. He replied that both required care, planning and good control of your hands. He said that while he was raised a Christian, he hadnt been going to church much lately but might start going more regularly now.
I was impressed with Stacy. Hes been a lifelong hunter and said that he picked up his shooting skills growing up on a farm near Gorman, Texas. He told me he started shooting at age seven or eight, with a .22. He has also participated in club-level competitions. He said that hes as good a shot with a rifle as he is with a pistol, and that he regularly practices with his AR-15. He has no police or military experience in his 66 years, though he did say that he had often thought of enlisting in the Marine Corps. If I were the Marine Corps Commandant, I would enlist Vic Stacy as an honorary Marine. He showed the kind of judgement and cool consideration under fire that would be a credit to any Marine.
Some people have wondered about the possibility of collateral damage. The Peach House RV park isnt exactly near the Empire State Building. Both Vic Stacy and Seargent Means had thick woods and/or Conners truck and fifth wheel trailer as their backstops. And neither the .223 nor the .357 rounds were able to penetrate the common elm trees in the area.
Vic Stacy and Seargent Means were subsequently no billed by the Grand Jury. When I talked to Vic on the phone a year after the shooting, he said that he was given an award by the Brownwood county Sheriff. He was also given an award by Governor Rick Perry. That award was a little more substantial: A custom made, LaRue OBR (Optimized Battle Rifle) and a case of ammunition. From Brownwoodtx.com:
Vic Stacy visited sheriffs officials and showed them the LaRue OBR (Optimized Battle Rifle), often referred to as a sniper rifle, Stacy received in Austin. Gov. Rick Perry presented the 7.62 mm rifle to Perry in recognition of Stacys action at the July 29 triple-fatality shooting at an RV park.
This is the sort of story that legends are made of. It rivals many in the old west. I was privileged to talk to Vic and record the details and shed some light on what happened a year ago. I wonder how a mere blogger could have scooped the national media on a story like this.
© 2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Good article. Thanks for making the effort to share what responsible people do to help their fellow man.
Good read and an amazing shot for the circumstances. Glad to see the involved citizen got an appropriate award.
Yeah, good article indeed!
Now half of the suspense in reading stories of citizen heroism is guessing how LEO’s will respond to it.
BUMP!
Hey man, nice shot.
Pythons are spendy, even used.
Nice shot indeed. And me still struggling with staying on the paper at 25 yards. Grrr.
The Python has one of the greatest factory revolver triggers ever.
Great research, and thanks for posting. Yeah, repeated hits at 54 yards on a moving target that is shooting back is awfully good shooting. And yeah, I bet he wished he’d grabbed the long gun.
If this story appeared in the Media it would be to criticize Rick Perry.
/johnny
Excellent write up! Thanks for sharing!
Agreed. Should have brought the rifle.
Also should have brought more ammo, if he had any in the house.
To quote the Sergeant from the opening scenes of Dances with Wolves: Better git down Lieutenant, them boys are shooters!
With a Python?
If you practice at long range you can hit consistently.
I have a number of friends who normally shoot at 100 yards and they are quite accurate.
Well no. I don’t need no stinkin long barrel. /s
But seriously, S&W 59 for home defense, and Glock 26 for (eventual) CCW. They told me it would be harder with the smaller weapons. They were right. Practice practice practice. So many bad habits to overcome from a childhood misspent on nerf toys and cap guns.
“One picture worth. . .” writ large. With them, I felt like I was led by the hand and taken on a battlfield tour.
This has also prompted me to try some 50 yd shooting with my CCW .380 just to see what would be the chances in a “what if” situation. Not optimistic, but What The Hey.
Never tried a python. Generally don’t like most single action triggers I have tried. Especially being a newbie. Really messes with my aim.
I’m a diehard S&W fan (especially guns made in the 50’s or pre-war) and the Python has an exceptionally good trigger. They are pricey though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.