Downing of Chopper Leaves Police Wary - follow up story
Hlywood
Extremists Held in Unprecedented Civilian Attack
April 28, 2000
By David Barry
Inyo County, Calif., Sheriff's Office
Cache of weapons the suspects allegedly used to fire at police
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (APBnews.com) -- One month after three heavily
armed
anti-government extremists shot down a California Highway Patrol
helicopter
and held 118 law officers at bay for 12 hours, authorities are mulling
what
went wrong -- and right -- in the potentially deadly conflict.
Three suspects surrendered shortly before midnight March 17 after
spraying
gunfire from a makeshift desert bunker at a CHP helicopter, downing the
aircraft.
Authorities said it was the first time civilians downed a police
helicopter.
"We've taken bullets before in both fixed-wing aircraft and
helicopters,"
said CHP Officer Bruce Bonnett, supervisor of aerial operations in
Dagget.
"But this is the first time an aircraft has been downed. It's absolutely
amazing luck that nobody was shot or killed."
The incident began at 5:15 a.m. when a Nevada highway patrolman stopped
a
black BMW for speeding on U.S. Highway 95, about 65 miles north of Las
Vegas. Seeing a shotgun in the vehicle, he radioed for help and waited
in
his car for backup before writing the ticket. When the backup car
arrived,
the BMW sped away, and the chase was on.
The shooting came without warning a few minutes later when a passenger
in
the BMW stuck his head out of the sunroof and fired four shots from an
M-1
carbine at a sheriff's deputy's vehicle.
Suspects' car caught in mud
Uninjured, the deputy dropped back and continued the pursuit as the
fugitives -- two men and a woman -- headed west over the California
state
line toward Death Valley. The next shots were fired at a CHP officer
answering the radio call for assistance, approaching the pursuit from
the
other direction.
"Our patrolman from Furnace Creek was right on the suspect's vehicle
when
they opened up on him with a handgun," Bonnett said. "He saw the muzzle
flashes as he passed."
The officer was not hit, and proceeded to join the ground pursuit.
By 8 a.m., when the CHP Long Ranger helicopter arrived from Dagget, the
trio
in the BMW had struck out across the saltpan for the Panamint Mountains
and
abandoned the car when it got mired in mud. Carrying rifles, pistols and
plenty of ammunition, they made their way on foot to a gully that they
fashioned into a bunker by piling rocks at both ends.
"Our air unit arrived and went looking for the suspects' location,
taking
directions from a park ranger with a spotting scope," Bonnett said.
"Unfortunately, the helicopter crew flew right over the bunker at about
250
feet and took two bullets from the .308 rifles they were firing."
Bullet ruptures oil line
One bullet passed harmlessly through a cowling. Another bullet hit an
oil
line and ricocheted into the transmission oil cooler, forcing an
emergency
landing.
"They lost all their oil," Bonnett said of the helicopter crew. "But
they
managed to fly it for over a mile and put it down safely."
Inyo County Sheriff's Department Lt. Bill Lutze was directing the
operation
from a command post at nearby Furnace Creek Airport. With the helicopter
down, he called the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department for air
support to ferry SWAT teams into positions.
Documents found in the BMW had identified the male suspects as Lloyd
Burrus,
44, and his 22-year-old son, Jeff Burrus, both of Downey, Idaho. The
woman,
Cheryl Kate Maarteuse, 50, of Emeryville, Calif., was Lloyd Burrus'
girlfriend.
Police find arsenal in BMW
A search of the BMW turned up a stockpile of weapons and ammunition.
"There was over 700 rounds of .308 rifle ammunition, both regular and
armor piercing," Lutze said. "There were rifles, some scoped, some
without,
shotguns, pistols, a derringer and knives. There were at least 200
shotgun
shells."
Lutze said there was also extremist literature, some of it written by
the
elder Burrus.
Lutze and Deputy Jim Jones made phone calls to Idaho to find out
information
about the fugitives and learned that Lloyd Burrus had ties to a militia
in
Alaska and had outspoken anti-government views.
"People said they doubted Lloyd would surrender," Jones said. "When they
were arrested, they still had 500 rounds with them."
Rifle fire at the aircraft continued through the afternoon. Toward
nightfall, a helicopter from the Kern County Sheriff's Department and a
U.S.
Customs jet arrived with special night-vision equipment, which allowed
officers to see the suspects and report what they were doing. By 10:30
p.m.,
the suspects were arguing over whether to stay and shoot it out, or
leave
the bunker and go for water and supplies, authorities said.
"The guys on the ground had night-vision glasses, and they were close
enough
to hear the argument," Bonnett said. "Lloyd Burrus was determined to
stay,
and the other two wanted to leave."
'You're surrounded. Give it up'
Bonnett said the argument had heated up to the shouting and shoving
stage
when SWAT team officers yelled at the suspects to surrender. "We can see
you, but you can't see us. You're surrounded. Give it up."
Then the Kern County helicopter lighted up the scene with a multimillion
candlepower searchlight. The suspects surrendered without resistance.
All
three are being held on $250,000 bail in Independence, facing multiple
charges of attempted murder of peace officers.
Bruce Hoffman, a national expert on terrorism for the Rand Corporation
in
Washington, was surprised to hear of the downing of the CHP helicopter.
"I've never heard of that happening before in the United States,"
Hoffman
said. "In Northern Ireland or Colombia yes, but not in the U.S."
Weapon equality
Hoffman said he is disturbed by the way the growing availability of
off-the-shelf hardware has become a "force equalizer" in conflict and
violence.
"It used to be that governments had a technological superiority over
their
adversaries," Hoffman said. "But with armaments, bulletproof vests and
armor piercing bullets available, that's gone."
What's encouraging, Hoffman said, is the exponential improvement in the
training local law enforcement agencies have had in preparing for
extreme
violence since the Oklahoma City bombing.
"We're not completely powerless against these adversaries," he said.
"Law
enforcement agencies are better trained than they've ever been."
