Collection of Articles about Police Officers Killed by Semi- Automatic ...

Nevertheless, “The two houses next door to Beck's … [were found to be] pocked with
numerous bullet marks.” (9) There are three possible explanations for this. The first was
already mentioned – that the officers aim was, shall we say, a little off. That hardly
seems likely.
The second is that the various departments involved were so thoroughly incompetent
and reckless that they just opened fire without having any idea of what they were
supposed to be firing at. If so, that is a most disturbing scenario, especially given that
one of the homes being riddled with gunfire was at the time occupied by "a couple and
their 30-hour-old newborn." (15) The baby's father told reporters that “The shots came
through our [front] window and into our house.” (9)
The third possibility is perhaps the most disturbing of all – that these homes were
deliberately targeted to create the impression that a two-way gun battle was raging,
when in fact the only shots being fired were those fired by the officers. Such a strategy
would serve to insure that any potential witnesses were forced to take cover or
evacuate, and would therefore be unable to observe what was happening around the
Beck home.
Authorities in fact made a concerted effort to evacuate the neighborhood, ostensibly for
safety reasons, though the only bullets that appear to have entered any of the
neighbors' homes were those fired by the officers on the scene. ABC reported that "Law
enforcement officials urged several Santa Clarita residents to leave their homes when
the standoff began," (12) and the AP added that "Authorities evacuated about 100
people from the neighborhood." (17)
Perhaps there is a similar explanation of claims made by the Times that Beck had been
“allegedly firing not only at police on the ground, but at police and news media
helicopters.” (1) It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the shots were fired to
keep the media at bay during the early stages of the operation, and fired by someone
other than Beck.
What we have here then, or so it would appear, is a case of a search warrant that could
have been peacefully served but wasn't, thereby leading to a gunfight in which it was
unclear how the first shots were fired, and during which an officer was killed by 'friendly
fire,' with the standoff ending when the building under siege was completely destroyed
by a fire of uncertain origin. Now, where have I heard this story before ....
References:
1. Kristina Sauerwein, Richard Fausset, and Mitchell Landsberg “Deputy Slain as
Gunman Sparks Siege,” Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2001
2. Massie Ritsch and Richard Fausset “Stevenson Ranch Suburban Dream Is
Transformed Into a Nightmare,” Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2001
3. Josh Meyer and Jean Guccione “Fired as a Cop, Suspect Ran Up Long Rap Sheet,” Los
Angeles Times, September 1, 2001
4. Heather MacDonald “Slain deputy ‘always smiling, always upbeat,’” Los Angeles Daily
News, September 1, 2001
5. Bhavna Mistry and Amy Raisin “Terror in suburbia: Shots, death, fire!,” Los Angeles
Daily News, September 1, 2001
6. Orith Goldberg “Officials let armed suspect's home burn to keep others safe,” Los
Angeles Daily News, September 1, 2001