The cops shot first, when they drove the cattle trailer up to the front door and shot Koresh, and killed his daughter. Any and all shooting after that took place as a purely defensive measure by the Davidians. The Feds were the aggressors.
If you look at the video taken when the second assault took place, the one on which the JBT's got their asses handed to them, you will note that there is a line of vehicles with many feds behind them shooting at the Davidians as the assault and retreat took place. See any return fire towards them? No bullet holes in any of the vehicles, or puffs of dust from rounds into the ground around them.
If the Davidians were equipped with the firepower and the will to use it, as is alledged, those Feds behind those cars would have been in serious trouble from even a half-assed marksman.
It matters not who started the fire. The Feds created the environment for the tragedy. If the Feds weren't so hell-bent on proving their manhood, they could have placed a perimeter around the place, parked a guy in a lawn chair with a cell phone, and just waited them out. With even a minute amount of common sense, there never would have been a fire, or for that matter, a "seige" in the first place
Something I'd like quidnunc or _Jim to explain to me: when Koresh appeared at the door, he himself was unarmed, but was shot. Why? Even if one of the other Davidians had already started shooting at BATF agents, how would that justify the BATF shooting Koresh?