Newhall Shooting - A Tactical Analysis. Michael E. Wood
then it jammed and I got the other.” When asked if he then emptied the second 1911A1 pistol, Twining answered, “Yeah.” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.
18. The CHP’s shotguns were carried in “cruiser ready” condition, meaning they had a full magazine of four Winchester Super X 00 Buckshot shells and an empty chamber. Officer Alleyn had to rack the slide of the shotgun initially to prepare it for firing.
19. Throughout the years, critics have argued the case that the ejected round was an indicator that Officer Alleyn was not competent with the weapon and his training was deficient, but this does not seem like a reasonable conclusion. Forty plus years of experience since the event has shown that officers in gunfights make decisions and take actions that they normally wouldn’t under less stressful conditions, when their minds are not under the effect of powerful, naturally occurring chemicals like adrenalin, which flood the body during periods of peak stress.
Given the extreme stress that Officer Alleyn was under during the initial moments of the ambush, it’s likely that his system was being flooded with stress hormones that effected normal cognitive processes like memory. It’s probable that Officer Alleyn honestly didn’t remember if he had already charged the weapon, so he took the steps required to ensure it was loaded, ejecting the live shell in the process. Because early versions of the Remington 870 shotgun were sometimes prone to double feeding (where an additional round is inadvertently released from the magazine tube at the wrong time in the sequence), it is possible that the live round was intentionally ejected as part of a malfunction clearance, but it’s more likely that the round was simply accidentally ejected as a byproduct of survival stress.
The live round, found near Officer Alleyn’s position at the door of Unit 78-8, was temporarily secured with the shotgun by CHP officers who found it on scene, and was later delivered to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab Sergeant James Warner by CHP Sergeant Cable, along with the CHP shotgun (CHP #39), Officer Pence and Alleyn’s revolvers, and the live cartridges and spent cases from those revolvers. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.
20. The Pontiac’s trunk lid bore the scars of Alleyn’s two shotgun blasts, which ran from the right rear corner of the vehicle to the left rear corner of the rear window. The two tracks were 15 inches apart, and the right track showed five paint chip spots and eight skid marks, while the left track showed four paint chip spots and seven skid marks. Additional pellet strikes were seen on the roof pillar, between the left side rear glass and the rear window. The blasts tore out the rear window, leaving only a small rim of shattered, hanging glass along the top edge and left vertical edge of the window. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.
Twining made the remarks to reporters and Sheriff’s Department personnel during the phone calls that took place later, after the shooting had evolved into a hostage crisis. Blood from his wound would allow investigators to recreate his movements during the fight later on.
21. While it was not reported by the CHP in either its 1 Jul ’70 Information Bulletin or in its 1975 training film, it appears that Officer Alleyn may have nicked Davis with one of the pellets and came very close to stopping the fight. The lead homicide investigator, former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office (LASO) Homicide Detective (Sgt.) John Brady, reported that:
“The whole thing almost ended right there. Officer Alleyn hit both Davis and Twining with the shotgun blasts. A pellet from Alleyn’s shotgun streaked across the top of Twining’s scalp, ripping an angry red gash. If it had been just a little lower, it could have opened the top of his skull, or at least knocked him down. Davis was turned sideways to Alleyn. A shotgun pellet tore right over the bridge of his nose. If he had been looking directly back at the officer, the pellet would have hit him right between the eyes.”
The LASO booking pictures of Davis clearly show the wound to his nose. Thus, it was only by the slimmest of margins that Officer Alleyn’s shots were unsuccessful. It’s an appealing exercise to ponder what might have happened if he hadn’t ejected the unfired round prior to shooting and had been able to fire it at Twining after the rear window was ballistically compromised by the previous shots. Kolman, J., Capt.. (2009) Rulers of the Night, Volume I: 1958-1988. Santa Ana, CA: Graphic Publishers, pp. 132-133.
22. The number of spent .45 ACP cases at the scene indicates Twining had the second (Colt) 1911A1 pistol loaded similarly to the first; that is, with a fully loaded magazine of seven rounds and an eighth in the chamber. Based on the pattern of spent cases recovered at the scene, Twining fired three shots from a position somewhere between the driver’s side door of the Pontiac and the left front fender of the Pontiac with the Colt 1911A1 pistol (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department evidence tags JHC #4,5,6) Some witness accounts (Ball, Barth) place Twining back at the front of the Pontiac during this phase of the gunfight, but other witness accounts (Tancredi) contradict that. The pattern of spent cases suggests that he may have fired from a position that was closer to the side of the car than the front, but blood evidence indicates that Twining may actually have been closer to the front of the car. Of note, in the CHP’s account of the shooting, Twining fires on Officer Pence from the front left corner of the Pontiac, using it for cover during this phase of the shootout.
Witness accounts indicate it is possible that Twining engaged both Officer Pence and Officer Alleyn with these pistol shots. A spent .45-caliber bullet was found by investigators on the ground between Unit 78-12 and Unit 78-8, on the right side of 78-12 (Sheriff’s Evidence Tag #23). California Highway Patrol. (1975) Newhall: 1970 [Film] and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.
23. Crime scene photos show a pair of bullet strikes on the left side of the Pontiac that were likely fired by Officer Pence, due to the angle of impact. One strike is above the gas door at the junction of the rear deck lid and the roof pillar, and another is forward, underneath the left rear side window. The left rear side window itself was also hit near the top center, shattering that window, perhaps by Officer Pence or perhaps by one of Officer Alleyn’s shotgun pellets. It’s likely the pair of rounds that struck the body of the car were fired at Twining as he emerged from the driver’s side and began to engage Officer Pence. There were additional bullet strikes in the dash of the Pontiac that could also have been caused by Officer Pence, Officer Alleyn, or Officer Holmes. The left rear tire of the Pontiac was also flattened when the car was recovered, and it’s possible that Officer Pence or Officer Holmes could have struck it with gunfire. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files, California Highway Patrol. (1975) Newhall: 1970 [Film]. Sacramento, CA, courtesy of Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and SCVTV, <http://www.scvtv.com/html/newhall1970-chp1975btv.html>.
24. The white spotlight on Unit 78-8 was raised and had been hit three times during the fight, presumably by shotgun pellets fired from Davis’ gun. This spotlight would have been directly in front of Officer Alleyn’s face as he kneeled and fired the Remington 870 shotgun in the crotch between the vehicle and the frame of the open door. It is possible that Officer Alleyn was injured by debris from the spotlight after it was struck, or by an actual pellet from Davis’ shotgun, before he left his position at the door.
25. A bullet struck the dashboard of the Pontiac forward of the steering wheel from the rear at some point during the gunfight. The bullet skidded for seven inches along the dash and struck the windshield from the inside, approximately 16.5 inches to the right of the left side moulding, leaving a piece of the bullet jacket in the dash (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department evidence tag #JW3, collected by Sergeant James Warner). Another bullet struck the dash, above the glovebox on the passenger side of the Pontiac. Bullet fragments from this strike were recovered under the hood of the vehicle, about 15 inches towards the center of the vehicle from the right fender (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department evidence tag #JW2). It’s unknown if these two bullets were fired by Officer Alleyn, Pence or Holmes. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide investigation files.
26. Multiple witnesses reported seeing Davis shoot at Pence with the shotgun, and a pattern of three ejected shotshells (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department evidence tags JHC #10,12,13)