MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Thirty years ago outside of Waco, Texas at Mount Carmel 76 Branch Davidians died after federal agents ended a 51-day standoff.
They were led by a cult leader named David Koresh.
The standoff started on Feb. 28 when ATF agents tried to serve a search and arrest warrant and were met with heavy gunfire. Four ATF agents died that day.
There isn’t much left at what once was Mt. Carmel -- only a few reminders of what happened.
It was here that Koresh tried to convince his followers he was the Messiah.
Koresh once told a reporter ”You know what they think of me? They think I am the Son of God.”
But to law enforcement, Koresh was a criminal stockpiling illegal weapons -- including machine guns and hand grenades.
And they believed he was a pedophile.
“And David Koresh knew he was going to go to prison as a child rapist and he, Messiah or not, wasn’t going to last long in prison,” said Blake Boteler, former ATF Agent.
So, on February 28, 1993, the ATF, armed with search and arrest warrants, went to the compound to seize the weapons and arrest Koresh.
Former Agent Blake Boteler was one of the 76 agents on the raid.
”So, as soon as we stepped off the trailers, we were met with a hail of automatic weapons fire and then they dropped hand grenades on us as well,” said Boteler.
The Davidians had been tipped off the ATF was coming. A news photographer asked a mailman for directions to the compound.
”Media guy said 'Hey, ATF, the National Guard are going to run a warrant on these religious nuts. There may be a shooting,'” said Boteler.
The mailman was a member of the cult and went to the compound to warn Koresh.
”So, from the time they were tipped off that we were coming, they had 48 minutes to prepare,” said Boteler.
The ATF had an undercover agent inside the compound who overheard that the Davidians knew they were coming and warned his commanders.
But the ATF went any way.
According to the ATF, the gun battle lasted nearly 2 hours.
”To put it in perspective I think the Alamo was 90 minutes, the battle of the Alamo, so it was the longest continuous gunfight on American soil since the civil war,” said Boteler.
4 ATF agents were killed and 16 were wounded.
One of the agents was shot just feet away from Boteler, who was at the front door.
"The automatic weapons fire and hand grenades were just pouring through those front doors, and there were these aluminum kind of doors with the foam insulation inside, and so, as the bullets were tearing through and going right by my head, it was like snow.”
The Texas Rangers estimated that ATF agents fired about 1,100 rounds while the Davidians fired more than 10,000 rounds.
Many of the agents who were there say they were ordered by the commanding officer to continue with the raid even though they had lost the element of surprise.
”And he made the decision on his own, that we would move forward with the warrant. His exact words to us was 'let’s hurry up and do this,'” said Boteler.
Farris Rookstool, who worked with the FBI at that time, responded to the scene days after the shooting. He agrees the raid was a failure and also blames Koresh, who could have simply surrendered.
”You had two forces, you know, you had ATF and you had David Koresh and both the leaders put their people in harm’s way, which got people killed,” said Rookstool, former FBI analyst.
As the raid was going on Koresh called 911.
”There are 75 men around our building, and they are shooting at us at Mt. Carmel. Tell them there are women and children in here and call it off,” said Koresh.
Six Branch Davidians were also killed that day. Eventually, there was a cease fire, The ATF retreated with their wounded.
David Koresh was also shot and injured during the raid. The FBI was called in to negotiate a surrender.
The siege lasted for 51 days. During that time a few people, including some children, left the compound, but most stayed.
On April 19, the FBI decided to end the standoff by shooting tear gas into the compound. There were more than 80 Davidians still inside, including 28 children.
“And so the women and children went to this walk-in what used to be a dry storage refrigeration type unit, the FBI termed it a bunker,” said Rookstool.
Outside the compound, the FBI used tanks to penetrate the walls and were calling for the Davidians to surrender. What happened next horrified the world.
The compound caught fire -- only nine Davidians made it out alive. None of the children survived.
“So, all these women and children were in that concrete room trying to get away from the fire. They couldn’t get out and they were buried alive with over a million rounds of bullets in there,” said Rookstool.
The question of who started the fire is still being debated to this day.
“We don’t know exactly who started the fire, we don’t know. It was believed the Branch Davidians. There were three separate fires, but the fact remains the Davidians were over-gassed,” said Rookstool.
The FBI believes David Koresh was shot to death by his right-hand man who then shot himself.
In all, 76 Davidians died in the fire.
”David Koresh was not going to be taken alive. He knew that and he had manipulated these folks into believing that he was the Messiah, the second coming and they followed him all the way to death,” Rookstool.