Monday, March 1, 1993, front page: Battle at Waco, Texas

Download a PDF that you can enlarge for easier reading

4 U.S. agents, 2 cultists die in Texas gunfire

15 federal officers are wounded in shoot-outs at Waco compound

By Charles Richards

The Associated Press

WACO, Texas ─ Fierce gunbattles erupted yesterday as more than 100 law officers tried to arrest the leader of a heavily armed religious cult. At least four federal agents and two cult members were reported killed.

At least 15 agents were wounded in a 45-minute shoot-out at the isolated compound of the Branch Davidians' sect about 10 miles east of Waco, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported. Several sect members were also wounded, officials said.

Sect leader Vernon Howell, who also is known as David Koresh, said in an interview with Cable News Network that a 2-year-old child was among those killed, but the bureau didn't immediately confirm that. Howell, who sounded as though he were in pain, said he was among the wounded.

Meanwhile, four children were released from the compound late yesterday, the bureau said.

The gunbattles began when federal agents hidden in livestock trailers stormed the main home of the sect yesterday morning, witnesses said.