Dispute Over Land Prompts 13-Hour Standoff Between a Family and Deputies; Two Officers Killed

ABBEVILLE, S.C. (AP) - A father and son angered by a state plan to seize some of their land allegedly shot and killed an officer who went to the home, sparking a 13-hour standoff that ended in a "horrendous gunfight" in which another officer was killed, authorities and neighbors said. At least 100 officers surrounded the rural home of Arthur Bixby in western South Carolina on Monday. Bixby's wife then holed up in an apartment in town and threatened to shoot bystanders if her husband or son were injured; she was promptly arrested, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said.

It began Monday morning when a magistrate's officer went to the house in a rural part of the state to follow up on an incident from the previous week involving a dispute between Department of Transportation workers and someone from the house, officials said.

When the officer failed to return, two deputies went to the Bixby home looking for him.

What happened next is unclear, but the deputies called for help and law enforcement officials surrounded the home, and the standoff began.

Eleven hours later, officers unsuccessfully tried to storm the home and were shot at with powerful weapons, Stewart said.

"I've never seen so much force," Stewart said. None of the family members tried to negotiate with officers during the standoff.

The gunfight lasted about 10 minutes and police fired tear gas inside the home. Bixby's son, 36-year-old Steven Bixby, surrendered. Two hours later, officers entered the home and arrested Arthur Bixby, who apparently was wounded in the gunfight. He was hospitalized and his condition was not available early Tuesday.

At some point during the standoff, the Bixbys destroyed two remote control robots authorities sent into the house to figure out what was happening, Stewart said.

Inside the home, authorities found a dead deputy and what they described as anti-American literature and suicide notes. Similar material also was found inside the apartment in town where Bixby's wife was arrested. Authorities did not say whose apartment it was.

Stewart said the family had prepared for the standoff and fortified the house's doors to make it harder for police to break in.

Authorities identified the two dead officers as Danny Wilson and Donnie M. Ouzts.

Ouzts apparently had been shot from a distance with a rifle, state Public Safety spokesman Sid Gaulden said; Wilson was found inside the home. Authorities would not say which one first went to the house.

Gene Land, Bixby's neighbor who lives about a half-mile away, said Steven Bixby was angry because the state planned to take some of his land to widen the highway. The Bixbys had lived in the house for more than 10 years, Land said.

A dispute Thursday between state transportation workers and someone from the home on Highway 72 precipitated the incident, DOT spokesman Pete Poore said.

A SLED attack vehicle moves into position beside the house with the gunman which is in the background, on the left. . SWAT officers can be seen beside another house to the right which was not involved in the shooting. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

One of two robots controlled by SLED rests beside a sheriff's car near the SWAT command. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

AT SWAT command law enforcement officers gather Monday afternoon. The van to the left is where officers are controlling the SLED robot which was on the front porch of the shooter's home. according to Sid Gaulden , PIO for public safety.

A sniper can be seen on the ground to the left, where Highway 72 is being widened across from the house where the shooting occured. Monday. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

Fire bombs go off as SWAT members storm the house on Highway 72 in Abbeville. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

Abbeville standoff ends with deputy, constable dead
Posted Tuesday, December 9, 2003 - 12:17 am
By April M. Silvaggio, Anna Brutzman and Owen Riley Jr.
STAFF WRITERS
asilvagg@greenvillenews.com

ABBEVILLE — Scores of law officers unleashed a barrage of gunfire and gas Monday night at a house in an effort to overwhelm two men after a deputy was taken hostage and a constable was fatally shot in the front yard earlier in the day.
Before midnight, two men inside the house had surrendered and were taken into custody, one of them wounded, authorities said.

Deputy Daniel Wilson was found dead inside the house, which authorities were searching for weapons and booby traps.

Donnie M. Ouzts, 63, who apparently had rushed to try to aid the deputy as the standoff began about 9 a.m., was shot to death about 25 yards from the front door of the residence, Abbeville County Coroner Ronnie Ashley said.

Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin said they had had no contact with Wilson since the beginning of the incident, which authorities said involved a dispute between the resident of the house and the highway department over a strip of land needed to widen the road.

Officers rushed the house about 8:30 p.m. A flash appeared in the front yard, flashlight beams waved in the smoke. The sound of rapid gunfire tore through the air.

Steve Bixby, in 30s, surrendered a short while later, authorities said.

Arthur Bixby, in his 70s, who was wounded, surrendered later after additional exchanges of gunfire, authorities said. He was being taken to a hospital.

No other injuries were reported, according to authorities, who said they faced semi-automatic, high-powered gunfire from inside the house.

Authorities said they also went to a nearby apartment complex, where relatives had threatened to open fire. Authorities said they took a relative into custody.

They said they seized anti-government literature.

The siege at the house occurred in a neighborhood of houses and businesses near the intersection of State 72 and Union Church Road, about 40 miles south of Greenville.

Officers standing next to patrol cars with blue lights flashing kept the public about 300 yards away. More than half a mile of State 72 was blocked off. The high-traffic road connects Abbeville to the Georgia state line.

Ouzts' body was recovered after a state trooper used his patrol cruiser as a shield to block any gunfire that might come from the house, said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Lance Cpl. Steve Sluder said when he arrived at the scene he could see the constable lying on the ground.

"I pretty much made a mad dash and grabbed him," he said.

Deputies tried to contact the gunmen by phone, but no one answered, Goodwin said. About 4 p.m., a deputy tried with a megaphone.

"We don't want anybody else to get hurt," the deputy said. "If you're alive, come to the door."

The State Law Enforcement Division's SWAT Team was requested shortly after 10 a.m., said SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson called "an active situation."

An estimated 200 officers from the Abbeville Police Department, the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office, the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office, SLED, the South Carolina Highway Patrol and the state Department of Natural Resources Division responded.

SLED brought in at least two robots, along with an armored vehicle.

Helicopters from several law enforcement agencies whirled overhead.

An autopsy was scheduled on Ouzts at Anderson Regional Medical Center to determine the exact cause of his death, Ashley said. Ouzts worked as a constable for Abbeville County Magistrate Tommy Ferguson.

Magistrate's constables are appointed by local magistrates to serve civil court papers. They have the same authority as a sheriff's deputy.

Staff writer Paul Alongi contributed to this article.
Tuesday

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.