Ruby Ridge - The Incident at The "Y" in The Trails

The Incident At The "Y" in The Trails

Operation "Northern Exposure" was suspended for three months due to the confirmation hearings for USMS Director Henry E. Hudson. The Weavers noticed the lack of USMS activity and began to believe the USMS had dropped the case.

On August 21, 1992, six marshals were sent to scout the area to determine suitable places away from the cabin to ambush and arrest Weaver. The marshals, dressed in camouflage, were equipped with night-vision goggles and M16 rifles. DUSMs Art Roderick, Larry Cooper and Bill Degan formed the reconnaissance (Recon) team, while DUSMs David Hunt, Joseph Thomas and Frank Norris formed an observation post (OP) team on the ridge north of the cabin.

At one point, Roderick threw two rocks at the Weaver cabin to test the reaction of the dogs. The dogs became alerted, and Weaver's friend Kevin Harris, and Weaver's 14 year old son, Samuel, emerged and followed the dog Striker to investigate. Harris and the younger Weaver were hoping that the dog had noticed a game animal since the cabin was out of meat. Sammy Weaver told his father he believed the dogs had sensed either a large animal or a man in the woods. The Recon team marshals (Roderick, Cooper and Degan) initially retreated through the woods in radio contact with the OP team, but later took up hidden defensive positions.

Later the OP team marshals and the Weavers both claimed the Weaver dogs were alerted to the Recon team marshals in the woods after neighbors at the foot of the mountain started their pickup truck. The Recon team marshals retreated through the woods to the "Y" juncture in the trails 500 yards west of the cabin, out of sight of the cabin. Sammy and Harris followed the dog Striker on foot through the woods while Randy also on foot took a separate logging trail. Vicki, Sara, Rachel, and baby Elisheba remained at the cabin, at first appearing anxious to the OP team, but later appearing relaxed. Randy encountered the marshals at the "Y"; Roderick recalled yelling, "Back off! U.S. Marshal!" and Cooper recalled yelling, "Stop! U.S. Marshal!" Later statements by Roderick, Cooper and Randy agreed that Randy responded by cursing and running away. About a minute later the dog and the boys came out of the woods and a firefight erupted between the marshals and Sammy and Harris.

Accounts differ at this point as to who first opened fire but agree that DUSM Roderick shot and killed Weaver's dog and that Samuel Weaver fired at Roderick. Samuel Weaver was shot in the back while retreating, and DUSM Degan was shot and killed by Harris.

The version of the firefight told by DUSMs Roderick and Cooper was that the dog, followed by Harris then Sammy, came out of the woods. DUSM Degan challenged Harris, who turned and shot Degan dead without Degan firing a single shot. Roderick then shot the dog once, Sammy fired at Roderick twice, and Roderick fired once again. Roderick and Cooper heard multiple gunshots from the Weaver party. Cooper fired two three-shot bursts at Harris and Cooper saw Harris fall "like a sack of potatoes". An impact caused leaves to fly up in front of Cooper who then sought cover. Cooper saw Sammy run away. Cooper radioed to OP team Dave Hunt that he had wounded or killed Harris.

Harris' version was that, when the dog followed by Sammy then Harris came out of the woods, the dog ran up to Cooper and danced about as he did in playing with the children. The dog then ran to Roderick, who shot the dog in front of Sammy, who cursed Roderick and shot at him. Degan came out of the woods firing his M16 and hit Sammy in the arm. Harris then fired and hit Degan in the chest knocking him down. Cooper fired at Harris who ducked for cover. Cooper fired again and Sammy was hit in the back and fell. Harris fired about 6 feet in front of Cooper and forced him to take cover. Cooper announced that he was a US Marshal. Harris checked Sammy's body, found him dead, and ran to the cabin.

The ballistics evidence presented at trial (and cartridge counts on the Marshals' guns performed by DUSM Mark Jurgeson) showed: Art Roderick fired one shot from a .223 M16, Sammy Weaver fired three shots from a .223 Mini-14, Bill Degan fired seven shots from an M16 while moving at least 21 feet, Larry Cooper fired six shots from a 9mm Colt submachinegun, and Kevin Harris fired two shots from a .30-06 M1917 Enfield, for a total of nineteen rounds.

In testimony about the firefight at the 1993 trial, Larry Cooper admitted "You have all these things compressed into a few seconds.... It's difficult to remember what went on first." The ballistics experts called by the prosecution testified on cross examination by defense that the physical evidence did not contradict either the prosecution or defense theories on the firefight (trial testimony, Martin Fackler on June 8, 1993 and Lucien "Luke" Haag on June 10, 1993). Fackler testified that Roderick shot and killed the dog, Degan shot Sammy through the right elbow, Harris shot and killed Degan, and Cooper "probably" shot and killed Sammy. The 1993 trial jury accepted the defense theory of the firefight and acquitted Harris on grounds of self-defense. In 1997 Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl conducted an independent search of the "Y" and Lucien Haag confirmed that a bullet found in that search matched Cooper's gun and contained fibers that matched Sammy Weaver's shirt.)

After the firefight at the "Y", marshals Hunt and Thomas went from the hillside to a neighbor's house in order to request assistance from the USMS Crisis Center while marshals Norris, Cooper and Roderick stayed with Degan's body at the "Y". Randy and Vicki went to the "Y" and retrieved Sammy's body. Randy, Vicki and Harris placed Samuel's body in a guest cabin near the main cabin. Weaver, Vicki, their three daughters and Harris holed up in their house. From 11:15 a.m. onward, Hunt reported to the Crisis Center in Washington D.C. that no further gunfire had been heard.

The USMS alerted the FBI that a marshal had been killed, and the FBI sent the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) from Quantico to Idaho. Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Eugene Glenn of the Salt Lake City FBI office was appointed Site Commander and Idaho State Police, ATF, Marshals Service, FBI, US Border Patrol and county sheriff's office were mobilized. Also on August 21, 1992, Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus declared a state of emergency in Boundary County, which allowed the FBI to use the Idaho National Guard Armory at Bonners Ferry and, after an initial delay, to use National Guard armored personnel carriers (APCs). A stand-off ensued for 12 days as several hundred federal agents surrounded the house and negotiations for a surrender were attempted.