Waco

 Part Five: Showtime

After nearly two months of surveillance and infiltration, in 1992 the ATF gave the order to move forward with a plan to raid the Mount Carmel Center, which David Koresh and the Branch Davidians had recently transformed into a stronghold. The ATF's operation, codenamed "Showtime," would set the stage for the fiasco that followed...

Larry Gilbreath was an unwitting participant in what would later become one of the biggest news stories of the late 20th century. But months before he became officially caught up in that saga, Larry was just a UPS driver that worked in the region of Waco, Texas.

At the time, Waco was a moderate-sized city of approximately 100,000 people located in central Texas, roughly halfway between Dallas and Austin. There, Larry worked in a pretty large geographic area. As he later described to reporters with 48 Hours:

"A typical day for myself was I would go out with anywhere from 80 to 100 stops and cover anywhere from 250 to 400 miles. They knew me. I knew them."

While Larry was never a part of the Branch Davidian church located near Mount Carmel, he did know of the group. Over time, he would deliver more and more packages to the group, oftentimes delivering them directly to the group's leader, a man he first knew as Vernon Howell, and later as David Koresh. Larry recalled stopping to talk to the other man several times, and actually seemed to kinda like David and his followers. They were incredibly cordial and talkative.

Staying true to his role as a delivery driver, Larry never paid too much attention to what the packages he delivered were. However, he would eventually notice that the packages increased in size over many months. He finally started to pay attention to where the packages were coming from in 1991. They were all packages being sent from gun manufacturers and wholesalers. Later, when speaking to CBS News, Larry stated:

"I thought it was a little strange that religious people would be ordering guns."

Because it was his job to simply deliver these packages, Larry Gilbreath tried not to think too much of it. For all he knew, these were totally legal and legit packages, and it wasn't his business to know what was inside. But the notion of him regularly delivering firearms and gun parts to an obscure religious group continued to gnaw away at him. Then the Branch Davidians became more closed off than ever.

While he had once delivered the packages directly to their Mount Carmel compound without problem, things changed. Now, Larry had to drop by a building near their property - a machine shop titled the "Mag Bag" - and announce himself. Only then would he be allowed to drive up the road to the Mount Carmel Center, where David and the rest of the Branch Davidians lived. It seemed like an odd step to take for a seemingly-harmless religious commune... especially one that was regularly getting firearms and miscellaneous parts delivered to them.

Things started to reach a head for Larry Gilbreath in February of 1992. That was when a package he was delivering, addressed to the Branch Davidians, accidentally opened up in his truck. Out of the box tumbled approximately half a dozen hand grenades, perhaps as many as eight. Inside the box were additional firearms and black powder.

Larry had no idea he'd been delivering such substances to the Branch Davidian group living just a few miles outside of Waco. And now that he knew, he had a hard time wondering what exactly a religious offshoot would be doing with hand grenades and black powder.

He tried to bite his tongue, but eventually, Larry's wife Debra got him to open up about his concerns. It was she that convinced him to reach out to authorities, since this was not normal behavior for a religious group. Someone should know, she reasoned.

Shortly thereafter, the two would reach out to the local McLennan County Sheriff's Office, who then got Larry in touch with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). At the time a part of the Treasury Department, the ATF was eager to learn more about this discovery, with David Koresh and the rest of the Branch Davidians having come upon law enforcement's radar a year or so prior, following allegations of child abuse.

Larry Gilbreath was not someone that you'd expect to play a big role in the saga of the Branch Davidians and David Koresh. But in the middle of 1992, Larry found himself attempting to do the right thing, and eventually got caught up in a story that would exceed his wildest expectations. A story that has become synonymous with the city of Waco...

Davy Aguilera was the ATF Special Agent that opened up the initial investigation into the Branch Davidians on June 9th, 1992. Working out of the ATF's Austin office, Aguilera first became aware of the suspicious weapons deliveries being sent out to the Mount Carmel Center through the McLennan County Sheriff's Office, who redirected Larry Gilbreath's initial concerns through to him.

After taking this initial report, Aguilera began tracing UPS invoices sent to the Branch Davidian compound near Waco. He was surprised to learn that approximately $43,000 worth of firearms, parts, grenade hulls, and black powder had been recently shipped to the Mag Bag, a business near the Mount Carmel Center, which operated as autobody and machine shop, as well as a storage facility, for David Koresh and his followers. Recently, Aguilera would learn, Koresh had started getting all of his deliveries sent directly to the Mag Bag, likely to pass off as business purchases so as to not attract attention.

After doing some digging into the contents of the deliveries the Branch Davidians had received, the ATF discovered that the Branch Davidians had likely assembled quite the arsenal (not including the weapons they'd been obtaining to sell at local gun fairs). This included not only hand grenades, but over 100 firearms, more than 700 magazines, and more than 200,000 rounds of ammunition. They'd also obtained approximately 110 upper and lower receivers for AR-15 and M-16 rifles, along with grenade-launcher attachments for both. They'd also obtained more than 400 empty M31 rifle grenades, along with black powder and other explosive chemicals (enough to make their own grenades).

Now, while it was believed that the Branch Davidians had obtained some of these items for modification and resale - that was a legitimate enterprise they'd been running for some time - the ATF determined that they still had many of these items in their arsenal.

After learning about the massive amount of firearms and modificiation tools acquired by the religious group, the ATF would officially open up an investigation into them and their leader, David Koresh in June of 1992. As they dug into Koresh and his background, they discovered that Koresh had received numerous reports of child abuse and even underage rape in the preceding months. A separate investigation overseen by Texas Child Protective Services was ongoing, and would be closed later that year without pressing charges.

After opening up their own investigation into the potential stockpile and illegal modification of weapons, the ATF would begin to document reports of what sounded like automatic gunfire coming from the Branch Davidian compound. This was given further credence when a neighbor of the Branch Davidians, a rancher named Robert Cervenka, told investigators that he had witnessed Branch Davidians in combat fatigues practicing armed techniques against man-sized targets. He also claimed to have heard what sounded like .50-caliber machine gun fire coming from the Mount Carmel Center, which he recognized due to his prior Army experience.

During this early stage of their investigation, the ATF would make at least one perplexing decision... one that history has not looked too kindly upon.

In July of 1992, ATF agents reached out to Henry McMahon, the owner of Hewitt Hand Guns, who'd previously dealt with David Koresh, having sold him lower receivers for AR-15s, which could be used to illegally modify rifles and help turn them fully automatic. During his conversations with the ATF, McMahon confirmed that he'd sold the receivers to Koresh.

From there, McMahon reached out to David Koresh, who extended an offer for the ATF to inspect his firearms. For whatever reason, officials with the ATF declined this offer, and their rationale has never been explained to this day.

Later, in federal reports analyzing the Waco operation, this would be cited as a crucial mistake by the ATF, who were given the opportunity to inspect the firearms belonging to the Branch Davidians - at the invitation of David Koresh himself. If they had followed through with this, they could have feasibly inspected each and every weapon in the compound, looked for any sign of illegal modification, and also gained valuable insight into the layout of the Mount Carmel Center and the Branch Davidians themselves.

Why the ATF never took David Koresh up on this offer to conduct a compliance inspection remains unknown to this day.

From this point on, however, David Koresh knew that federal authorities - the ATF and even possibly the FBI - were onto him. He would become more paranoid that the government was coming to stop him any day now, a fear that had developed over many months...

In 1989, David Koresh had announced his "New Light," his alleged revelation from God that gave him control over every woman of childbearing age in the church. Immediately afterward, he'd separated the men and women, likely paranoid that them remaining close would threaten his control over the group... and in the process, his authority.

Throughout 1991, plagued with fear that authorities were closing in on him for child abuse, polygamy, and/or underage rape, David Koresh began to worry that the walls were closing in on him. Having been arrested once before - following his 1987 shootout with fellow Branch Davidian George Roden - David vowed to never let that happen to him again.

In 1992, David oversaw a complete overhaul of the Mount Carmel Center. In the preceding months, he'd had the flimsy homes on the property torn down, using those materials to reinforce and partially rebuild the main compound. Having previously worked in construction and carpentry before arriving in Waco, this was one of the few things that David Koresh was pretty adept at personally overseeing, and he wanted everything under one roof. Not only so he could remain in control over everyone and everything, but as a matter of convenience. He wanted a fortress that the Branch Davidians could defend from a single location.

Over many weeks, the Mount Carmel Center was rebuilt into a single large compound, which included an underground bunker that went out from the building's basement through a buried school bus. This also included a three-story watchtower, where guards could have eyes on the entire surrounding property. The walls were also reinforced with concrete.

David told his followers that the evil armies of Babylon were closing in on them. In reality, he knew the government was looking into him for legitimate felonies.

In the waning days of 1992, the ATF began escalating their investigation into David Koresh, this enigmatic figure who called himself a messiah and had claimed all of the women in the group for himself, calling them his "wives."

During this time, ATF agents began communicating with former members of the Branch Davidian church, including Marc Breault and Robyn Bunds, whose stories I told you in the last episode. These two in particular clearly had an axe to grind with David Koresh, so ATF authorities were unsure how much of their stories were totally accurate, but if just a modicum of their stories were true, the government needed to act.

Quickly.

In January of 1993, the ATF decided to send in undercover operatives to begin working closely with cooperating witnesses and others in order to learn more about the Branch Davidians. Coming in blind - especially since David Koresh had recently ordered the compound at Mount Carmel to be completely rebuilt - officials with the ATF wanted to get a better idea of the property where the Branch Davidians lived.

They had sought a warrant to raid the property in the waning days of 1992, but authorities believed there wasn't yet enough evidence for probable cause. So through these undercover operatives, they'd hopefully find enough.

These undercover operations began rather small, with one ATF agent, Nathaniel Medrano, posing as an undercover UPS driver sent to work with Larry Gilbreath. Gilbreath had been delivering packages to the Mount Carmel Center since 1986, so the Davidians trusted him. Medrano, on the other hand, was a complete outsider, having previously gone undercover with drug and gang units, and had grown out his hair in order to fit into those cliques.

With this operation, Medrano voiced his worries to his superiors that his long hair would be more of a hindrance than a help, but was told not to cut it. His superiors didn't think it necessary, so he didn't.

Medrano was sent out undercover with UPS driver Larry Gilbreath, and was given his orders to try and use the bathroom at the Branch Davidian compound. There, he'd be able to get a better look inside of the building, and help the ATF formulate a strategy for their raid. However, when he asked to use the bathroom, he was instead directed toward the outhouse, where the Branch Davidians had gone to the bathroom for quite some time.

Medrano would later blame himself for this failure, and was used as an example of the ATF's failure to properly develop information on David Koresh and his followers. But more on him later this episode.

After this brief encounter, David Koresh would reach out to the local sheriff, claiming that this UPS driver had clearly been an undercover law enforcement agent. The local sheriff claimed to have had nothing to do with it, so David Koresh became even more assured that federal agents were attempting to obtain information about the compound.

After failing to learn much about the Davidians through these scant operations, the ATF took the next logical step: they began embedding undercover operatives near Mount Carmel. These agents were sent to temporarily live in a farmhouse across the street from the Branch Davidian compound, on the other side of Double EE Ranch Road, directly across from the front drive leading up to the property. There, these agents were tasked with surveilling the Branch Davidians, learning their habits, such as when they left, how often they received packages, etc. They were also tasked with using cameras to record the comings-and-goings of the various Davidians that lived on the property.

However, as you'd expect, things did not go so smoothly for these eight undercover agents.

For starters, the ATF had done an inadequate job of embedding these officers at the farmhouse near David Koresh and his followers. All of the eight men were given the cover story that they were college students at the school nearby, Texas State Technical College, but most were in their late 20s or early 30s... clearly not your average college student. They also weren't registered in any classes, and when questioned about the school or professors, couldn't give adequate answers. Also, most of these undercover agents drove newer-model cars, which didn't help fool David Koresh or the rest of his followers. We know this because they explicitly told others about their suspicions, that the men living near the Branch Davidians were federal agents.

David and the Davidians spoke to others in the area about their new neighbors, pointing out that they were too old to be students at the school nearby, or that they drove nicer cars than you'd expect from college students living eight deep in a flophouse near Waco. On at least one occasion, David stopped by the house, intending to drop off a six pack of beer, but was not let inside by the agents who answered the door.

From the day they arrived at the property, these undercover agents knew that their cover wasn't working as intended. As they surveilled the Branch Davidian compound, they were able to see men with binoculars watching them from the Mount Carmel Center's tower.

David Koresh didn't know that these agents were with the ATF - at least not yet - but openly theorized that they were FBI.

Despite their cover being blown almost immediately, the most predominant issue plaguing this undercover operation was its ineffectiveness at carrying out its most basic tasks. The agents living at this home were meant to use surveillance cameras to record and photograph the goings-on at the Branch Davidian compound, but weren't able to record anything untoward on film. They also didn't spend as much time focusing on their subjects as they should have, with several hours each day going undocumented.

To make matters even worse, the agents didn't know what David Koresh looked like. They had only been provided a single image of his driver's license photo to work off of, and weren't able to track his whereabouts for the entirety of their time there.

This 24/7 surveillance operation only lasted about a week, lasting from January 11th through the 19th. In the end, more than 900 photos and several videotapes taken of the Branch Davidian compound during this span were not even developed by the ATF, who decided to begin focusing more on the next step in their plan: infiltration.

"Trojan Horse" was the name given to the ATF operation meant to infiltrate the Branch Davidian compound, and gather intel about the leader of the group, its followers, and the layout of the property.

Robert Rodriguez was the main operative sent to infiltrate the Branch Davidians. A Texan that had grown up about five hours south of Waco, Rodriguez had played football at Texas A&I, and was well-known as a spectacular athlete in his youth. Afterward, he fell into coaching and teaching, but began his career in law enforcement in 1977 as a state trooper with the Department of Public Safety. In 1984, he moved over to the ATF, and was living in San Antonio at the time he went undercover in Waco.

Posing as a trade school attendee named Robert Garcia, Rodriguez became friendly with David Koresh over the next handful of weeks, making eight trips to the Branch Davidian compound. He listened to Koresh's sermon many times over, and became well-versed in his various prophecies: that he was "The Lamb" from the Bible, destined to open up the Seven Seals, and help create the Kingdom of David. However, at this point, David's vision had become more apocalyptic and violent than ever.

Rodriguez heard David Koresh talk repeatedly about a pending conflict that would pit him and the rest of his congregation against the evil army of Babylon, often posited as an extension of the U.S. government. As Rodriguez would later recall, David believed that:

"... their destiny was to die and later come back as the chosen few."

Rodriguez would later testify that David Koresh saw himself as a warrior of God, destined to ride the red horse from the Book of Revelations, and was given a sword in order to:

"... take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another."

Robert Rodriguez despised being around David and his followers, later proclaiming:

"I hated what he preached. I hated being around him. I hated pretending."

During these sermons that he attended, Rodriguez claims that David often went on long-winded tirades about matters other than religion. In particular, he seemed to be rather fond of his Second Amendment rights, and made it clear that his ability to own firearms was something that he took seriously. Deathly seriously. And at the same time, he made his apparent disdain for the ATF clear, at one point showing Rodriguez a film made by the Gun Owner's Association which portrayed the ATF as an agency that violated the rights of gun owners through threats and lies.

In an interview with an Australian TV reporter in 1992, David had stated:

"It makes nobody's business whether we have a gun or not in this place. Guns are the rights of Americans to have. They come in here with a gun, and they start shooting at us, what would you do?"

After two months of near-constant surveillance, the ATF made the decision to raid the Branch Davidian compound. In doing so, they announced a three-part mission: confiscate any illegal weapons on the property, arrest David Koresh (and by extension, any other Branch Davidian that resisted), and ensure the safety of the children on the compound.

In an affidavit written in order to obtain the search warrant, filed on February 25th, 1993, Special Agent Davy Aguilera wrote:

"I believe that Vernon Howell, aka David Koresh and/or his followers who reside at the compound known locally as the Mt. Carmel Center are unlawfully manufacturing and possessing machine guns and explosive devices."

The raid of the Branch Davidian compound was originally scheduled for March 1st, 1993, under the operation codename "Showtime." However, once the ATF became aware of "The Sinful Messiah" article being published by the Waco Tribune-Herald, they decided to push up the date a day to February 28th.

Unbeknownst to them, the Waco-Tribune Herald article was set to publish on February 27th.

The ATF had met with the paper several times in the preceding weeks, asking them to indefinitely delay until the raid could take place. After approximately three weeks of being told to delay without being given a discernible date, the Waco-Tribune Herald took the article series to print.

Just beforehand, the ATF had gathered more than 70 law enforcement agents together to cooperate in the raid, who were not just members of the ATF from several local field offices - namely Austin and New Orleans - but also included members of the DOJ and DEA. ATF officials had theorized, based off of some scant (and incorrect) information that the Branch Davidians might have been creating methamphetamine at their compound. They weren't, or at least, nothing of the sort has ever been proven to have happened. Yet the DEA's involvement helped bolster the force of agents gathered to participate in "Operation Showtime."

In February, this large contingent of police officers gathered in Bellmead, a small town in McLennan County, approximately five miles north of Waco, which would serve as their gathering area. There, the officers began to train and plan ahead for the raid to come, but were not very focused on going toe-to-toe with the Branch Davidians in a traditional sense. In fact, they weren't planning on doing much shooting at all. They were focused primarily on ensuring stability to the Branch Davidians afterward; namely, the women and children.

The agents had stockpiled provisions such as tents, medical supplies, portable toilets, milk, food, and water - along with things like lollipops and treats, in order to help endear themselves to the children. They knew that the children were being raised in a militant, religious environment, and would likely view the government agents as hostile figures. They hoped the sweets would help soften their edge.

Sadly, though, they would never get a chance to use these supplies. As described by Robert White, an ATF agent that participated in the raid:

"We never made it to the front door of the structure."

The Branch Davidians inside the Mount Carmel Center had received advance notice of the raid from a local postman, David Jones, who came across a lost local news team from KWTX-TV, having received advance word of the raid and were hoping to record it in progress. David Jones was not only a member of the Branch Davidian church, he was actually the brother of Rachel and Michelle Jones, making him David Koresh's brother-in-law.

After learning that a contingent of government agents was preparing to head out to the Branch Davidian compound, Jones rushed to try and find a phone to call and warn his friends and family of what was heading their way.

David Koresh's paranoia had soared in the months after the failed Nathaniel Medrano intrusion at the compound, which itself had come after months of not only rumored ATF and FBI investigations, but a couple of other ex-members (namely, Marc Breault and Robyn Bunds) attempting to jumpstart other investigations with other agencies.

Koresh knew it was only a matter of time until government agents turned their attention toward him for any number of perceived crimes. He always assumed that they would come after him for either polygamy or underage rape, but likely never thought that illegal firearm modifications would have been what compelled a raid by federal law enforcement.

Because of the paranoid state he had lived in for months now, David knew - or at least, heavily suspected - that "Robert Garcia" wasn't who he said he was. But he assumed that he could prove to the other man - ATF agent Robert Rodriguez - that the Branch Davidians were mostly-harmless and not worth the effort of trying to bring down. Perhaps it was this hubris that let Rodriguez make repeated trips to the Branch Davidian compound over several weeks, but Koresh had continued to treat Rodriguez like a potential convert through the morning of February 28th, 1993.

At the time the raid was beginning, Rodriguez was actually still undercover inside the Branch Davidian compound. His supervisors had given him the task of dropping by that morning to gauge the mood of those inside, and gather some last-minute intel before the ATF had "boots on the ground," so to speak.

Rodriguez and Koresh were in the midst of a discussion about the Bible that morning when David received a phone call and left the room briefly. Moments later, he returned, and Rodriguez later recalled:

"When he came back, it was like day and night... He was shaking real bad. He was breathing real hard."

Whatever facade he had worn during their prior discussions was gone, and now, David Koresh seemed to acknowledge the unspoken truth between the two. He knew that Robert wasn't who he said he was, and had for some time, telling him:

"Robert, neither the ATF or the National Guard will ever get me... They're coming, Robert, the time has come."

Knowing that whatever advantage the ATF had previously had was gone, Robert Rodriguez tried to hurry out of the compound as a frenetic energy began to fill it. Koresh and his followers were physically on-edge, and Rodriguez tried to keep his cover - and composure - by telling them that he'd made plans to meet friends in town for breakfast. He hurried away from the Branch Davidian compound, heading down the road toward the undercover farmhouse across the street. There, he got his supervisors on the phone, telling them that the Branch Davidians knew they were coming. Whatever element of surprise they hoped to have was gone.

Sadly, this warning was ignored by Rodriguez's supervisors, Chuck Sarabyn and Phillip Chojnacki, the latter of whom later testified:

"I saw no reason for the raid to not go forward."

Both men would later try to plead ignorance, claiming that Rodriguez hadn't been clear in his instructions, but their claims were patently rejected by other ATF agents in their vicinity, who claim they'd made comments about the element of surprise being gone, but decided to move ahead with the raid anyway.

After being essentially ignored by his supervisors, Robert Rodriguez would attempt to drive down to the command center in order to stop the raid from happening. But by the time he got there, it was too late. The large contingent of law enforcement agents there had already left. Later, in testimony given to the U.S. House of Representatives, Rodriguez stated about this moment in particular, as well as his supervisors:

"I sat down and I remember starting to cry... They can still sit there and lie... Those two men know what I told them and knew exactly what I meant."

Because the warning by Robert Rodriguez was ignored, the raid carried on as planned... and, as you're probably already aware, almost immediately went to shit.

When Rodriguez had left the Branch Davidian compound, he recalled the residents inside beginning to fervently pray. However, survivors from inside the Mount Carmel Center would state that shortly thereafter, David Koresh began ordering the men inside - his "Mighty Men" - to begin arming themselves and take up defensive positions throughout the home, according to their already-established plans. The women and children were told to take cover.

John Williams, an ATF agent that participated in this raid on February 28th, later told a U.S. House panel:

"It came from inside as we approached the front door. They were shooting through the windows, the doors, everywhere."

Approximately 75 agents were gathered to participate in the raid, having been corraled primarily into two large cattle trailers being hauled behind pickup trucks. This was meant to fool the Branch Davidians until they could get close enough to unload, then begin raiding the property and search for David Koresh and the Davidians' collection of firearms.

Later, it would be learned that ATF supervisors were aware that the Branch Davidians knew they were coming, but decided to carry on anyways, believing that momentum would carry them through. Their train of thought was that if they acted quickly, before Koresh and his followers had time to truly prepare, they'd be okay and be back home for dinner. Unbeknownst to them, the Davidians had spent years preparing for this very thing, and were ready for the conflict to come.

By the time the ATF made it to the Mount Carmel Center that fateful February morning, David Koresh and his followers had had approximately 45 minutes to get themselves ready and find their positions. They were ready for the gunfight to come before the ATF's trucks came down the long, dusty driveway toward the compound, followed closely by three helicopters, meant to serve as a distraction.

At about 9:30 AM, the trucks carrying the dozens of law enforcement agents approached the front of the compound, and David Koresh was standing halfway out the front door, waiting for them. For a moment, ATF agents mistakenly thought that they'd taken him off-guard, and he was coming out to greet them as he would any random rancher.

For a moment, they thought their ruse had worked.

They were mistaken.

Survivors inside would recall David Koresh yelling out to the approaching agents, letting them know that there were women and children inside, and not to open fire on the compound for fear of harming anyone.

Moments later, as officers began piling out of the two large cattle trailers, gunfire erupted. To this day, it remains unknown who fired the first shot, with some believing that the Branch Davidians opened up on the approaching ATF agents. Others theorize that it was law enforcement that fired first, having planned to make a preemptive move to take care of the Branch Davidians' dogs, held in a kennel nearby. Regardless, the gunfire erupted almost immediately, and wouldn't let up for nearly two hours.

David Koresh rushed inside behind the front door, himself a gunshot victim, having taken two bullets; one in the abdomen, near his left hip, and then another in his hand. Neither were fatal wounds, but would prove to be a significant hindrance in the days and weeks to come.

Within a minute of the gunfight starting, one of the Branch Davidians - Wayne Martin, a Harvard educated lawyer - was on the phone with emergency services. He asked those on the other end, just local dispatchers, to stop shooting at them inside the compound. Audiotapes would later reveal him shouting:

"That's them shooting! That's not us!"

As the shooting commenced, members of the ATF began attempting to carry out their plans, which were aimed at not only gaining entrance to the compound, but doing so in a thoughtful, tactical manner. Obviously, the immediate battle complicated that, but members of the operation began to carry out their specific tasks.

One such plan involved the use of ladders to make it onto the roof of the main compound, and then use the windows there to gain entry to David Koresh's bedroom. They believed that was where the main armory was located, and by gaining entry there, they could begin to consolidate their grip on the compound. Inside, though, these officers received instant resistance that was comparable to anywhere else on the property. Shooting from inside the room came in the form of the recognizable brapping from an automatic AK-47, and relentlessly held the ATF agents at bay.

Bill Buford, an ATF agent from the New Orleans field office, was a former Green Beret tasked with leading the team up the ladders and into the armory. Years later, he would recall to the Dallas Morning News:

"I didn't know what was going on in front and they were counting on us going into the arms room. My thinking, like an old military guy, was what [do] you do in a near ambush? You fight through it. That was stupid."

Buford was shot six times during this botched part of the raid, but would thankfully survive. He attempted to retreat back out through the window he and other officers had gained entry in, and the officers under his command had no other option but to follow him back out.

Of the four ATF agents that perished during this initial raid, three had been a part of this specific task: attempting to gain access to David Koresh's bedroom, which proved to be a deathtrap.

It took more than half an hour for communication to begin between the Branch Davidians inside the compound and the ATF, as nearly two dozen members of the ATF or other law enforcement agencies lay dying or wounded on the property.

Slowly, the ATF agents involved in the raid would begin to retreat back toward the trucks, where a couple of dozen agents were amassed, returning fire toward the Branch Davidians inside the compound. From there, these agents would begin to retreat back away from the property as their ammo supplies dwindled, heading down the long road toward the farmhouse where undercover operatives had been surveilling for the past two months.

After exchanging gunfire with the Branch Davidians for approximately two hours, the announcement for the ATF to officially retreat was given. Later, agents involved would liken their retreat to that of a defeated army. Reporters, journalists, and photographers, all gathered to document the ATF's big victory, ended up documenting their biggest defeat in painstaking detail, with the shocking images and video from the raid being broadcast on international news later that evening.

After establishing communication, a ceasefire was reached, with the ATF being allowed to come rescue or recover the remains of the government's casualties. In total, four ATF agents were dead, and sixteen more were wounded, with their injuries ranging from serious to critical.

Later, it was estimated that the ATF had fired a total of approximately 1,100 rounds during the two-hour long gun battle. The Branch Davidians, on the other hand, had fired over 10,000.

Bill Buford, the former Green Beret-turned-ATF team leader, had been shot six times and thankfully survived, but feasibly thought he'd die that day. Some of the most haunting images from the raid include him, wrapped up and placed on top of a vehicle, with a fellow ATF agent beside him in apparent mourning.

John Risenhoover, another ATF agent involved in the raid, was one of the seriously wounded that fateful day. He took shrapnel from a .50-caliber round to his ankle, shattering it completely. He later recalled to the Dallas Morning News:

"I live in constant pain. I lost a big chunk of my leg. I had friends who were killed. To say we screwed up somehow betrayed their sacrifice. Eventually, you realize that we did make mistakes, and you say their sacrifice was real. They did their jobs well and they gave their lives as heroes. That has nothing to do with the fact that our managers, our leaders should've had the maturity to say, ' No. Wait.'"

The four ATF agents killed that day were Special Agent Conway LeBleu, Special Agent Todd McKeehan, Special Agent Robert Williams, and Special Agent Steven Willis.

Conway LeBleu was born on December 23rd, 1962 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He graduated from McNeese State University in 1987, and joined the ATF later that August, having been assigned to the New Orleans Field Division. A decorated agent within the ATF, he won Special Act Awards in 1988 and 1991 for investigative excellence. Married with two sons, he was only 30 years old at the time of his death.

Todd McKeehan was born on October 19th, 1964 in Johnson City, Tennessee. He graduated from East Tennesee State University in 1988, and went on to join the ATF the following October (1989). Before then, he had joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, and was called up for Operation Desert Shield in November of 1990. He served a six-month tour overseas before returning home, and still found time to receive two Special Act Awards in 1990 and 1991 for significant contributions to major investigations. He was 28 years old at his time of death, and was survived by his wife.

Robert Williams was born on March 1st, 1966 in Baltimore, Maryland, with his father having been an agent in the U.S. Secret Service. He graduated from Florida State University in 1988, and was assigned to the New Orleans Field Division after joining the ATF that October. During his time with the Bureau, he received several Letters of Appreciation regarding his assistance of several Arkansas police agencies in investigations and trainings. An accomplished and certified scuba diver, Williams was only 26 years old when he died, and was survived by his wife.

Steven Willis was born on December 18th, 1960 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Southwest South Texas University in 1986, having completed an internship with the Texas Department of Public Safety during his college career. Afterward, he joined the Defense Investigative Service, where he worked for three years, before joining the ATF on July 1st, 1990. Assigned to the Houston Field Office, Willis spent his spare time as a race car driver, and finished in the top three in multiple races in the Tri-State Sports Car Council between 1985 and 1988. At the time of his death, he was just 32 years old, and was survived by his parents and sister.

At least five Branch Davidians were killed or seriously wounded during the initial raid. All would end up dying due to their injuries. Among these names were Winston Blake, Peter Gent, Peter Hipsman, Jaydean Wendell, and Perry Jones. The latter is a name you might be familiar with, with Perry having been David's father-in-law and one of his longest, most ardent supporters and advisors.

However, they weren't the only Branch Davidians to be killed on February 28th, 1993. Another would die hours later.

Michael Shroeder had been off of the property at the time of the raid, and later attempted to gain access, hoping to get through the ATF barricades leading to the Mount Carmel Center. He reportedly attempted to fire a pistol at some ATF agents during an encounter later that evening, and was shot dead, bringing the total of dead Branch Davidians up to six at this point.

An unknown number of Branch Davidians inside had suffered injuries, but were alive and ready to fight another day. This included their leader, David Koresh, who had been shot twice but was still alive.

Robert Rodriguez, the ATF agent that had gone undercover with the Branch Davidians, had attempted to stop the raid from happening but had been ignored by his supervisors. Sadly, as I mentioned earlier, he was later blamed by those same supervisors when things fell apart, with them alleging that he'd not done an adequate job of informing them of the threat, or was vague to the point of being unhelpful.

However, in 1995, Rodriguez would get a chance to tell his side of the story, when the U.S. House of Representatives began airing public hearings meant to get to the bottom of the Waco fiasco. In these hearings, Rodriguez was able to let the world know that he'd tried his hardest to help prevent the events that followed this failed raid from happening, but had been ignored by those in charge of "Operation: Showtime."

That same year, 1995, Rodriguez would file a lawsuit against his supervisors and the ATF, alleging that they had conspired to make him the scapegoat for Waco. He later received a $2.3 million settlement, but his career in law enforcement was unquestionably over at that point.

Years later, Rodriguez struggled to come to grips with his role in this story, telling news organization KENS-5:

"We fell right into the hands of Koresh and all those nuts. This is what he wanted, to make it appear that the government was going to kill his people. He wanted Armageddon. Our biggest mistake was that we made it so easy for him."

The failure of the ATF to properly evaluate the situation before the raid remains one of the lasting legacies of this entire saga.

In the more than thirty years that have passed since this raid took place, it has come to light that the ATF had multiple opportunities to try and prevent the needless deaths that occurred on February 28th, 1993 and beyond. They could have taken David Koresh into custody on multiple occasions, with David regularly jogging off or near the property line multiple times during the time they were surveilling the compound. He also reportedly left the property on January 29th, 1993 to conduct business at a machine shop nearby. He also reportedly attended the Chelsea Bar and Grill at least once a week through February 1993. But in none of these instances did the ATF think of trying to apprehend him off-site, separating his followers from the catalyst that was their prophet.

As I detailed earlier in this episode, the ATF also refused David's earlier invitation from 1992 to conduct a compliance inspection of the Branch Davidian compound and their firearms. For whatever reason, they chose not to.

The ATF instead chose the option of a "dynamic entry," the large armed raid that ended in disaster. Even before plans had been put to paper, this was known to be the most hazardous option, but would have allowed the ATF to get Koresh and the firearms at the same time, which they viewed as the most optimal result. They likely chose this because, in the wake of the Ruby Ridge incident months prior, the ATF was looking for a public relations win, and viewed this as a means to get good press coverage for cheap.

Sadly, they'd not done enough research into the Branch Davidians, and despite investing thousands of dollars into surveilling Koresh and his followers, knew so little about the people who lived there. They underestimated them at their own expense.

Now, the Davidians were dug into their own compound, having stockpiled enough provisions and ammo to survive inside for several months.

In hoping to avoid another Ruby Ridge, the ATF had set themselves up for fiasco by creating an even worse situation... one similar to Jonestown. Because they were now besieging a dogmatic religious cult, government officials now began to fear that Koresh would order the men, women, and children inside to kill themselves.

All of this isn't to say that I'm excusing the Branch Davidians for their own abhorrent, illegal behavior. They were undoubtedly breaking the law in various ways, not only illegal firearms, modifications, and explosives manufacturing, but regulated polygamy and underage rape, as well as rampant allegations of child abuse. But in this situation, you would expect our federal agencies - the ones we entrust to uphold laws - to be the adults in the room in situations like this.

Sadly, though, any expectation of that would go out the window in the weeks to come.

Earlier in this episode, I briefly told you about Special Agent Nathaniel Medrano, who'd gone undercover in one of the ATF's initial undercover operations, posing as a UPS driver.

In the agency's recounting of the Waco tragedy years later, Medrano felt like he had been singled out, with the report highlighting his singular failure as a prominent example of the organization's ineptitude in the leadup to the raid. Sadly, though, Medrano had been operating under bad decisions from his supervisors (being told not to cut his hair ahead of time, a dead giveaway to the Davidians) and had also been operating under bad information (with the ATF telling him to use the Branch Davidian's bathroom, unaware that they'd been using outhouses for years).

In July of 1996, in the middle of his office in Los Angeles, Medrano would turn a gun to himself and take his own life. Another possible victim of the Waco saga, Nathaniel Medrano was just 32 years old at the time of his death.