Newhall Shooting - A Tactical Analysis. Michael E. Wood

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СКАЧАТЬ Model 28 revolver would be recovered later that morning at another crime scene along the escape path of suspect Davis, in San Francisquito Canyon. When the weapon was recovered by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas L. Fryer, it had a single spent case in the weapon, which was not resting under the hammer. No other cartridges or cases were in the weapon. Because it was known that a single round had been fired at that second crime scene, LASD investigators initially assumed that it had been fired from this weapon. If this were true, then it would indicate that Twining fired all but this one cartridge in the Standard Station parking lot, instead of emptying the revolver as indicated in the narrative, because the suspect Davis did not have spare ammunition on his person to reload the gun when he fled the original crime scene with it.

      However, it was later determined that Davis had another gun in his possession at the San Francisquito Canyon crime scene (Officer Frago’s Colt Officer’s Model Match revolver), and this gun was also found empty with the exception of a single spent case, making it possible that this was the gun that fired the shot instead. The CHP felt that this was the gun used by Davis against Schwartz.

      In the wake of inconclusive evidence to prove which gun fired the shot during the escape, it is suggested that it is much more likely the round was fired from Officer Frago’s Colt. It is hard to imagine that Twining would have stopped shooting at the arriving Unit 78-12 prior to running his Model 28 dry, because he did not have another weapon on his person at this stage of the gunfight. It is much more likely that Twining fired all six shots from this revolver at the initial scene, then ditched the weapon in the car when it proved to be empty, whereupon it was later taken away from the scene by Davis. Davis likely dumped the spent brass (save one, perhaps because he mistakenly thought it was a live cartridge in the darkness or thought it could be used to bluff an opponent) sometime during his escape, because the five spent cases were never recovered at the scene of the shooting. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.

      14. This is the phraseology attributed to Officer Pence in the 1975 CHP training film, but the 1 Jul ’70 CHP Information Bulletin quotes Officer Pence as saying a slightly altered form: “11-99, shots fired, at J’s Standard.” The official CHP radio log, maintained by Dispatcher Jo Ann Tidley, records the call as, “2356: 78-12, 11-99 Standard Station J’s.” 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>.

      15. Davis’ shotgun was a Western Field 550AD, a re-branded Mossberg 500 12-gauge shotgun with deluxe furniture manufactured for the Montgomery Wards department store chain. This shotgun had a six-round capacity, with one round in the chamber and five rounds in the magazine. Six spent blue Remington-Peters shotgun shells were found at the scene of the shooting, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Evidence Lab technicians verified that they had been fired from this weapon. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.

      16. A single spent shotgun shell, Sheriff’s Crime Lab evidence number JHC #24, was found lodged in the front grille of the Pontiac after the shooting. None of the remaining five shotgun shells that were fired from this weapon were found at the front of the Pontiac, so it appears that Davis only fired a single round with the Western Field 550AD from this position.

      17. The sequence of events for Twining’s malfunction and his position during this stage of the fight is driven by the physical evidence at the scene. The Remington-Rand 1911A1 pistol was found on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat with six live rounds in the magazine and a seventh live round jammed in the chamber. An eighth live round was recovered from the ground on the driver’s side of the Pontiac (evidence placard “JHC #8” for Sheriff’s Crime Lab employee Jack H. Clark), the only live .45 ACP round found in the vicinity. An accounting of the evidence indicates that eight other spent .45 ACP cases were found at the scene, all of which were determined to be fired in a second 1911A1 pistol of Colt manufacture that was recovered as evidence. No other .45 ACP spent cases were found at the scene. Therefore, it is likely that the Remington-Rand 1911A1 was not fired at the scene and the JHC #8 live round that was booked into evidence was probably the eighth cartridge that had originally been loaded into the pistol.

      This is supported by Twining’s testimony as well. During his phone conversation with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective (Sgt.) John M. Brady, Twining was asked if one of the .45 ACP pistols had jammed on him. Twining responded, “Yeah, I may have got one shot, then it jammed and I got the other.” When asked if he then emptied the second 1911A1 pistol, Twining answered, “Yeah.” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.

      18. The CHP’s shotguns were carried in “cruiser ready” condition, meaning they had a full magazine of four Winchester Super X 00 Buckshot shells and an empty chamber. Officer Alleyn had to rack the slide of the shotgun initially to prepare it for firing.

      19. Throughout the years, critics have argued the case that the ejected round was an indicator that Officer Alleyn was not competent with the weapon and his training was deficient, but this does not seem like a reasonable conclusion. Forty plus years of experience since the event has shown that officers in gunfights make decisions and take actions that they normally wouldn’t under less stressful conditions, when their minds are not under the effect of powerful, naturally occurring chemicals like adrenalin, which flood the body during periods of peak stress.

      Given the extreme stress that Officer Alleyn was under during the initial moments of the ambush, it’s likely that his system was being flooded with stress hormones that effected normal cognitive processes like memory. It’s probable that Officer Alleyn honestly didn’t remember if he had already charged the weapon, so he took the steps required to ensure it was loaded, ejecting the live shell in the process. Because early versions of the Remington 870 shotgun were sometimes prone to double feeding (where an additional round is inadvertently released from the magazine tube at the wrong time in the sequence), it is possible that the live round was intentionally ejected as part of a malfunction clearance, but it’s more likely that the round was simply accidentally ejected as a byproduct of survival stress.

      The live round, found near Officer Alleyn’s position at the door of Unit 78-8, was temporarily secured with the shotgun by CHP officers who found it on scene, and was later delivered to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab Sergeant James Warner by CHP Sergeant Cable, along with the CHP shotgun (CHP #39), Officer Pence and Alleyn’s revolvers, and the live cartridges and spent cases from those revolvers. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.

      20. The Pontiac’s trunk lid bore the scars of Alleyn’s two shotgun blasts, which ran from the right rear corner of the vehicle to the left rear corner of the rear window. The two tracks were 15 inches apart, and the right track showed five paint chip spots and eight skid marks, while the left track showed four paint chip spots and seven skid marks. Additional pellet strikes were seen on the roof pillar, between the left side rear glass and the rear window. The blasts tore out the rear window, leaving only a small rim of shattered, hanging glass along the top edge and left vertical edge of the window. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.

      Twining made the remarks to reporters and Sheriff’s Department personnel during the phone calls that took place later, after the shooting had evolved into a hostage crisis. Blood from his wound would allow investigators to recreate his movements during the fight later on.

      21. While it was not reported by the CHP in either its 1 Jul ’70 Information Bulletin or in its 1975 training film, it appears that Officer Alleyn may have nicked Davis with one of the pellets and came very close to stopping the fight. The lead СКАЧАТЬ