Anatomy Of
The Cover-Up
Of A Cover-Up
The Untold Story Of
The Lubbock SWAT Killing
Parts One, Two And Three
A Series By R.G. Griffing, SAL Staff
Copyright 2001 San Antonio Lightning
Part One: "The First Cover-Up"
"I drove to the L.P.D. and waited to right (sic) my report."
These are the last words of the official report written by Lubbock SWAT Officer Tracy Taylor, after he inadvertently shot and killed his team leader, Sgt. Kevin Cox, in a confused and deadly confrontation that left one cop dead, another wounded, and an innocent citizen hit twice with police bullets.
This information has been developed by the Lightning without help from the Lubbock authorities. Under threat of dismissal all police and city employees have been ordered to "say nothing."
Yet, the following is what the Lightning has learned:
"We're gonna need more ammunition!"
An obviously rattled officer made this startling observation over his radio, after the SWAT team poured 369 mostly automatic rounds into the wounded suspect's house, that fateful afternoon in July. (Click for Audio of the attack, taken from police radio traffic and FOX-34 Lubbock news coverage-Prepared by the Lightning staff)
In the aftermath L.P.D. falsely accused the suspect, Richard Robinson, 47, of capital murder. Long time police spokesman Bill Morgan painted anyone who disagreed as the slanderer of a fallen hero.
"That is so baseless and contrary to the evidence that it's an absolute insult to Kevin Cox's memory," an outraged Morgan told local reporters.
Before the week was out, Morgan would have to eat those words, Robinson's million dollar bond would be negated, and the "branded" cop killer would be exonerated and released.
Day's later, Police Chief Ken Walker would be suspended and barred from the police station.
Meanwhile rumors abound at City Hall that massive pending litigation could well bankrupt the underinsured City of Lubbock.
* * *
The bloody afternoon in question began with a call to the police dispatcher.
Robinson had been caught red-handed, in the act of burning a couch on his front lawn, in a family dispute.
Since Robinson had inherited 13 antique guns from his father, and since he refused to talk to police, the SWAT team was promptly called in; and the heavily armed seven man team was transported to the crime scene, with an armored personnel carrier to back them up.
Not long after that, the mayhem began.
The date: Friday the 13th, July.
* * *
City officials and police have refused to tell their citizens exactly what happened, saying that, for now, taxpayers are better off not knowing. Officials cite pending litigation.
The acting police chief, Claude Jones, has reversed the longtime open-door media policy. Everyone, including reporters, now must be cleared through the chief's office and must be escorted while inside the building.
Jones readily admits that the change is designed to restrict access to department employees and limit the release of any information about the shooting investigation.
The secrecy is so prevalent, city officials won't even say who issued the gag order.
* * *
Even as the death of a fellow officer began to sink in, the cover-up began.
Officer Taylor falsely maintained, as did other SWAT officers, that the target of their attack was the cop killer, Robinson, and that he, not the police, fired the first shot.
The lie held up for a while. Almost a week.
Indeed, not only did the police convict the suspect on the spot, but the local newspaper poured on the prose as well.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal stated categorically in the next day's lead, as fact, that:
"Lubbock police Sgt. Kevin Cox died Friday after a distressed and belligerent man opened fired (sic) on him as a SWAT team moved to end an armed standoff triggered by a domestic dispute." (A.J. 7-14-2001)
Turns out Robinson was cowering on the floor, unarmed.
Had it not been for plucky Channel 34, the Fox affiliate in Lubbock, which video taped the incident, and a series of exposes by the San Antonio Lightning, the truth might never have come out.
That's when the second cover-up began.
It continues to this day.
* * *
Part Two-"The Second Cover-up"
Lubbock city government is in disarray and denial. The paranoia at City Hall runs heavy and deep these days. Not just at the L.P.D., but in virtually every department.
Faced with what could be a staggering toll from coming litigation, which some officials worry could cripple Lubbock's government, there is much uncertainty in civic circles.
Insurance covers the city for up to $10 million per year under its current liability agreement. Even this information was kept secret until obtained and reported by The Avalanche-Journal.
But beyond those concerns, there is also an undercurrent of fear that officials may have crossed the line into criminal territory. It is whispered that a grand jury might find more than police and city council would desire.
Any grand jury probe has been put on indefinite hold, though normally, as a matter of standard procedure in a police shooting, such scrutiny would be automatic.
Though it has now been almost two months since the day in question, police say they have not finished their investigation, and, in fact, maintain that they are awaiting an F.B.I. report.
But, as the Lightning reported almost 45 days ago, The F.B.I.'s Lori Bailey of the Dallas office says that the tests have been concluded, and results have already been relayed to the Lubbock police. She would not comment on what those tests showed.
Insiders tell the Lightning that the City is stalling, and claim the police investigation is actually being improperly orchestrated by City Attorney Anita Burgess and others in her office. Sources say that the full facts of the case are already known, and have been for many weeks. Behind the scenes negotiated settlements with the Robinson family, the Cox family, and disgraced and possibly defamed Police chief Walker are being feverishly pursued.
A key point in all those negotiations is that any settlements will include agreements not to discuss details, including the truths about what transpired during that bloody afternoon.
What are those truths?
Simply that the bloody encounter was a tragedy waiting to happen. The actions that followed were an attempt to obscure the facts.
And when that failed, a stone wall was erected to protect the city.
But that wall is slowly crumbling.
* * *
Part Three-"The Domino Theory"
Officer Tracy Taylor is no stranger to death.
In 1999 Taylor shot and killed 15-year-old Joseph De La Rosa, after the suspect threatened police and family members with a knife. Taylor told investigators that the teenager made threatening motions.
Taylor fired three shots into De La Rosa, and, according to court documents, other officers had to tell Taylor, "that's enough."
Officer Nathan Anderson, also a current member of the Lubbock SWAT team, drew his weapon but held his fire.
Taylor was cleared by an internal review and Grand Jury. Few insiders in Lubbock City government were surprised.
Federal Judge Sam Cummings dismissed a lawsuit against Taylor, saying he acted "rationally" and within the scope of his duties when he killed the boy.
Cummings' ruling also cleared Police Chief Ken Walker and the City, who were co-defendants in a civil suit brought by De La Rosa's mother.
Because departmental policies are in place to address violent situations, the city was eligible to exercise the legal defense of "qualified immunity," which clears a government and its officers from liability for official actions, Judge Cummings ruled.
The same immunity extended to Walker, who was accused of "failing to implement policies and supervision to prevent officers from using excessive force against minorities," the Avalanche-Journal reported at the time.
* * *
It was not the only time Walker and the City have dodged a legal bullet.
In 1998, the Hampton University's women's basketball coach, her husband and an assistant coach were arrested in Lubbock on false theft charges.
They filed a $30 million lawsuit. The city prevailed, but the case took two years of intense and desperate legal manuevering.
How did the city respond during that period?
''As much as I would like to address this issue at this time, the fact that we are facing pending litigation makes it inadvisable that I do so,'' City Manager Cass told reporters.
It is a phrase of which he has apparently become fond. Practice makes perfect.
* * *
Amazingly, the Lubbock Police Department does not keep separate records on police shootings.
Records are simply classified by crime, and each report states whether a shooting occurred. Internal affairs records combine shootings with all investigations involving use of force by officers.
So it has fallen to veteran officers to remember such encounters, and they sometimes share those details over a cup of coffee.
But the official record is fuzzy.
Some say that is by design.
* * *
Walker's SWAT team, is not noted for its restraint. Internal documents last year indicated that there was a problem with "aggression." This was noted in Walker's official review.
Others at City Hall are less charitable.
"Those boys are like blind dogs in a meat house," one insider confided.
Like dominos set in a line, the circumstances were perfectly aligned for what followed on that deadly day in July.
* * *
Wednesday Part Four-"Blind Dogs"
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Ruby Ridge, Waco, Lubbock And Santa Clarita; Santa Clarita?
Tarsikes & Graham
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