Newhall Shooting - A Tactical Analysis. Michael E. Wood

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СКАЧАТЬ wash to the northeast across the freeway to San Francisquito Canyon, while Twining moved to the southwest, across The Old Road and an open field (now Magic Mountain amusement park), and then south along the foothills that paralleled the highway. (Refer again to Fig. 32.)⁴⁹

      As other officers split up into search teams and fanned out to the north from the Pontiac in search of the escaping felons, Officer Ingold returned to the scene of the shooting, took out a piece of yellow chalk that he used to mark accident scenes, and outlined the fallen bodies of his fellow officers, marking each with the name of the deceased.⁵⁰

      The deadliest law enforcement shooting of the modern era had come to a close.

      It had taken four-and-a-half minutes. Learning the lessons from it would take decades.

      Endnotes

      1. I’ll refer to this event as the “Newhall shooting,” not the “Newhall incident” or “Newhall massacre” as others have. Calling this event an “incident” seems to downplay the significance of this historic lethal encounter, and terming it a “massacre” is equally misleading, since the term conjures images of unarmed or defenseless victims being killed by brutal, armed opponents. While the ruthless and violent nature of the offenders is not in question, the slain officers were certainly not unarmed nor defenseless during the encounter—they were merely overwhelmed by opponents who were better prepared to win the fight.

      2. Simply do an Internet search using the keywords “witness memory” for a taste of the voluminous research and literature that exists on the subject.

      3. Gibb, F. (2008, July 11) You can’t trust a witness’s memory, experts tell courts. The Sunday Times, <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4312689.ece>.

      4. The shooting occurred within approximately 100 to 150 feet of J’s Coffee Shop, which had a large crowd of approximately 40 patrons and employees inside. Many of these people witnessed the shooting from the windows of the restaurant. Meanwhile, in the parking lot, motorists and truck drivers saw the events go down from different vantage points within 150 feet or less of the action. Anderson, J., & Cassady, M. (1999) The Newhall Incident. Fresno, CA: Quill Driver Books. pp.151-153 and Lanning, Rick. Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Los Angeles, CA. 6 Apr 1970.

      5. These media contacts were alternately described as reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle by the CHP, reporters from radio station KFWB by print media, and reporters from KNEW radio station by Anderson. Anderson, J., & Cassady, M. (1999) The Newhall Incident. Fresno, CA: Quill Driver Books. p.177.

      6. The CHP’s report said that “more than 40” shots had been fired during the incident, with 15 of them by the officers, but the research conducted for this account of the shooting indicates that the number is closer to 45, with 14 fired by officers and one fired by the responding civilian. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.

      7. One of those weapons, a Ruger .44 Magnum Deerstalker carbine, was later recovered from their vehicle with a live round jammed in the chamber and four live rounds in the magazine. A second weapon, a Colt 1911A1 pistol, would later malfunction in the middle of the gunfight. Unfortunately, the remainder of the weapons worked as designed. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files and Anderson, J., & Cassady, M. (1999) The Newhall Incident. Fresno, CA: Quill Driver Books. p.137.

      8. Elements of the following narrative sourced from: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files; interview with Gary Dean Kness; personal interviews with CHP Sergeant (ret.) Harry Ingold and CHP Officer (Retired) Richard Robinson; California Highway Patrol. (1970) Information Bulletin (July 1, 1970): Shooting Incident—Newhall Area. Sacramento, CA, and; Anderson, J., & Cassady, M. (1999) The Newhall Incident. Fresno, CA: Quill Driver Books. p.131-141, and; California Highway Patrol. (1975) Newhall: 1970 [Film]. Sacramento, CA, courtesy of Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and SCVTV, <http://www.scvtv.com/html/newhall1970-chp1975btv.html> and; Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. (2010) The Newhall Incident: A Law Enforcement Tragedy [Film]. Santa Clarita, CA, courtesy of Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and SCVTV, <http://www.scvtv.com/html/scvhs040510btv.html>. Individual source references will only be provided by exception for the remainder of the narrative.

      9. In the CHP’s report of the shooting, they went to lengths to explain that brandishing calls were routine in this rural area and the reported crime was a misdemeanor, not a felony, which may have affected the response and mindset of the officers. California Highway Patrol. (1970) Information Bulletin (July 1, 1970): Shooting Incident—Newhall Area. Sacramento, CA.

      10. Alternate versions of Frago’s approach exist. In the CHP Information Bulletin of 1 Jul ’70, the CHP noted simply that Frago approached the passenger side of the vehicle in a “port arms” position and made no mention of him reaching for the door handle, but several witnesses (among them Joseph Tancredi) specifically recalled seeing Officer Frago extend his left hand to open the door while his right held the shotgun with muzzle up in the air in the “hip rest” carry position taught to CHP cadets at the Academy. In the 1975 training film produced by the CHP (with the full benefit of access to the detailed investigation report from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office Homicide investigators, the CHP’s own investigation report, the official record of the October 1970 trial of Bobby Davis, and the interviews and testimony of the involved parties and witnesses), Frago is specifically described as having reached to operate the handle on the door of the Pontiac with his left hand, so that is the accepted version for this narrative. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files, California Highway Patrol. (1970) Information Bulletin (July 1, 1970): Shooting Incident—Newhall Area. Sacramento, CA, and California Highway Patrol. (1975) Newhall: 1970 [Film]. Sacramento, CA, courtesy of Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and SCVTV, <http://www.scvtv.com/html/newhall1970-chp1975btv.html>.

      11. Ironically, this model was known as the “Highway Patrolman,” and in a previous life it had been a duty weapon for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) The weapon had been sold as surplus by the DPS and purchased as one of a group of 50 weapons by Glenn Slade’s Texas Gun Clinic, a wholesaler in Houston. Salesman Henry Fontenot reported that he had sanded the DPS serial numbers off the guns in compliance with a DPS requirement of sale. Davis had purchased the firearm on March 6, 1970, using an alias. Ten days later, he bought the Smith & Wesson Model 38 Bodyguard Airweight revolver that he used to threaten the Tidwell’s from the same dealer. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.

      12. It has been reported from reliable sources close to the investigation that Twining admitted to watching Officer Frago in the side and rear view mirrors as he exited the patrol car. During his phone conversation with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators from the Hoag house, Twining supposedly stated he unlatched his door prior to Officer Frago’s advance, but did not push it open, in a preparatory move for the ambush he was planning. When Twining saw Officer Frago near the car and shift his shotgun from “port arms” to what the CHP training manuals described as a “hip rest” position, he knew he could attack Officer Frago before the officer could get the gun into action. As Officer Frago reached for the door, Twining threw it open and ambushed the unsuspecting officer. Personal interview with a confidential source, July 2011.

      13. Davis’ Model 38 revolver would be recovered from the rear seat of the Pontiac after the СКАЧАТЬ