Transcription from 911 Calls During Waco Raids
by Roger White
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 93 12:02:21 EDT
From: Roger White
To: [email protected]
Subject: Transcript of Waco 911 tapes
I thought this might be of interest. Over the weekend I transcribed the Waco
911 tapes that were broadcast on ABC's Nightline last week. It's about 6
and a little pages long.
Take care,
Rog
"Nightline," WABC-TV, June 9, 1993, Ted Koppel
"911 Waco Tapes"
Notes: Lynch is a Lt. in the Waco Sheriff's Department. Martin
is Wayne Martin at the Branch Davidian Compound. Koresh is
David Koresh, leader of the group at the compound.
My comments will be in []. What I have transcribed is what I
heard and did not always agree with what ABC showed on the
screen.
Lynch: This is Lynch. Hello - hello - hello.
Martin: Hello!
Lynch: Yeah. This is Lt. Lynch. May I help you?
Martin: Yeah. There's about 75 men around our building and
they're shooting at up in Mt. Carmel.
Lynch: Mt. Carmel?
Martin: Yeah. Tell them there are women and children in here
and to call it off! [very excited]
Lynch: All right, all right. Hello? I hear gunfire. [shots,
rapid fire in background] Oh shit! Hello? Who is this? Hello.
Martin: Call it off! [almost shouted]
Lynch: Who is this? Hello? Hello? God almighty. Hello? [to
dispatcher] Who is this coming from?
Dispatcher: Wayne . . .
Lynch: Wayne Martin? Hello? Wayne! [to dispatcher] You
might call Barber and tell him I've got an open line into the
compound it sounds like. [dispatcher says something and there
are sounds of gunfire but I don't think any is full auto] Just
you tell him to call you and tell him I'm down here and that, a,
I've got an open line into the compound - I believe. I tell you
what, ah, get on our primary channel and call radio van, see if
they respond. That's gonna be ATF. Just say radio van, you
know, Waco dispatch. [more gunfire]
Dispatcher: West Waco to radio van.
Lynch: They're supposed to respond.
Dispatcher: West Waco to radio van. [more gunfire]
Lynch: [hearing the gunfire he says, "Oooh!"] [very heavy
gunfire now but still doesn't sound like it's full auto] Listen
to that!! No response?
Ted Koppel: From what we've just heard, the local sheriff's
department was having great difficulty trying to raise Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms agents on the scene. But while this was
happening, a second 911 call was placed, this time by the leader
of the Branch Davidians.
Dispatcher: 911.
Koresh: Hello.
Dispatcher: Yes.
Koresh: This is David Koresh. We're being . . . Tough to call
you guys.
Dispatcher: This is who, sir?
Koresh: David Koresh, Mt. Carmel Center, we're being shot all
up out here. [sounds very calm]
Dispatcher: Okay. Where are you?
Koresh: Where am I? I'm at Mt. Carmel Center.
Dispatcher: Okay. Hang on just a second.
Koresh: All right.
Lynch: Yeah. This is Lynch.
Koresh: Hey, Lynch? That's a kind of funny name there.
Lynch: Ha! [sort of a surprised laugh, as if taken aback]
Koresh: Listen now, this . . .
Lynch: Now who am I speaking with?
Koresh: This is David Koresh.
Lynch: Okay David.
Koresh: The notorious. What'd you guys do that for?
Lynch: Well. David.
Koresh: Wh . . .
Unknown: . . . ish lis . . [it almost sounds like something
happened or was done to the tape at this point]
Lynch: What I'm doin' is, I'm trying to establish some
communi-, communications links with you.
Koresh: [It almost sounds like he is saying John to me but the
slide shown by ABC has 5 "no's". If he is saying no, I hear
only one, not 5. In any case, what I write is what it sounds
like to me, not what ABC says.] [John(?) No(?)] Let me tell you
somethin'.
Lynch: Yes sir.
Koresh: You see, you brought ya bunch of guys out here and you
killed some of my children, We told ya we wanted to talk. [I
hear a "No, ya . . ." and again, at this point, the tape sounds
funny.] How come you guys try to be ATF agents? How come you
try to be so big all the time?
Lynch: Okay. David . . .
Koresh: Now there's a bunch of us dead. There's a bunch of you
guys dead. Now, now that's your fault.
Lynch: Okay Let, let's try to resolve this now. Tell me this,
now, you have casualties. How many casualties? Do you want to
try to work somethin' out? ATF is pulling back, we're trying
to, ah . . .
Koresh: Why didn't you do that first?
Lynch: All I'm, all I'm doin' is handlin' communications. I
can't give you that answer David.
Koresh: Okay.
Lynch: Okay.
Koresh: The thing of it is, is this. Is this. [The second 'is
this' sounds like a duplicate of the first to me. Strange
"hitches" in this tape.] [I can't make out the next sentence. It
sounds like he says, "Look at the dove sits on the floor."
Damned if I know.] I know it sounds crazy to you but . . .
Lynch: No, no.
Koresh: . . . you're gonna find out sooner or later.
Lynch: Sure. We all . .
Koresh: There are. There are. There are 7 seals. Now, there's
some things in that bible, that have been held as mysteries, . . .
Lynch: Yes sir.
Koresh: . . . about Christ.
Lynch: Yes sir.
Koresh: Now, there are prophecies . . .
Lynch: Let me. Can I interrupt you for a minute?
Koresh: Sure.
Lynch: All right. We can talk about theology, but right now . . .
Koresh: No. This is life. This is life and death with [again,
sounds like a cut or something in the tape] theology we're (?)
going (?) . . .
Lynch: That's what I'm talking.
Koresh: . . . is life and death.
Lynch: Yes sir. I agree with that.
Koresh: See. See. You and Collins (?) step on my perimeter.
Lynch: Okay.
Koresh: We will serve God first. Now, we will serve the God of
the church. now, we're willing, and we've been willing, all
this time, to sit down with anybody. You've sent law enforcement
out here before.
Lynch: Yes sir.
Koresh: And I've [ABC says he says 'laid it' here. I can't
tell but I hear 3 syllables, not 2.] straight across the table.
I said, if you want to know about me, sit down with me and I'll
open up a book and show you seven seals. Just like I told
Robert. You know Robert, don't ya?
Lynch: Yes sir.
Koresh: You know. The guy that. Your agent.
Lynch: Yes sir.
Koresh: We've known about this. I've been teachin' it for four
years!
Lynch: Okay. Now . . .
Koresh: We, we knew you were comin' and everything. You see, . . .
Lynch: Yes sir:
Koresh: . . . we knew before you even knew. [To me, these
comments are critical. The media was saying that Koresh had
been warned. If this is where they got the idea from, I suggest
they are wrong. I think Koresh is talking bible prophecy here.
You know, "The world is ending Tuesday" kind of stuff. That's
how he knew they were coming, eventually. That's my guess
anyhow.]
Lynch: Okay. But let me ask you this. [tape things again] The
present situation. Let's start resolving it and then we can sit
down and talk. Right now we've got everybody cease firing.
Okay? So that's what we want. Now, we're pulling the guy back
from the door. ATF is gonna pull the guy back from the door.
[dispatcher says something in background] All right. Can they
come now David, with your guarantee, and pick up their injured
officer, without being fired on?
Koresh: Look, I cannot communicate with everybody here.
Lynch: Okay. Do you have any, any way? Is there anybody that
can? Do you have a facility to, to, ah, communicate with the
rest of the folks there in your, in your house?
Koresh: Well, we would have if your guys had talked to us.
Lynch: Okay. But right now. All right. What ATF is wanting
to do, is to take their injured troop out of your area. Okay.
What you're telling me is you can't control folks because of
the, you have no communications. Is that correct.
Koresh: Well, if you give us some time, we could probably get
the message around.
Lynch: Okay. Standby David. We're, we're having a heck of a
problem with communications. Standby just a second. All
right. they're going to send four men to, to. Wayne is
shooting again. Hold on just a second. Ask Wayne to please
cease fire. [dispatcher in background, " . . .gunshot . . . the
will,"] No, ATF is not firing. All right. We're going to send
in four ATF agents. Can you pass the word?
Koresh: What are they . . .
Lynch: Pardon me?
Dispatcher: He's trying to pass the word.
Ted Koppel: [There is a discussion with former chief hostage
negotiator with the NYPD, Frank Bolz. He says there are three
prime things - communications, intelligence and fire power.
there was no communications which created more chaos. Implies
ATF screwed up communications aspect. Lynch tries to recontact
B.D.s.]
[sound of phone ringing in headset, then pick-up]
Lynch: Hello.
Koresh: [answering machine] Hello. I'm not in right now, so
please leave your name . . .
Lynch: It's a recording. It's a recording.
Koresh: . . . telephone number and message after the beep.
Thank you.
Dispatcher: They hear your voice maybe.
Lynch: Hello. This is Lynch, sheriff's office. This is Lt,
Lynch of the sheriff's office. Pick up the phone. Lt. Lynch,
MacLennon (?) County Sheriff's Department. Pick up the phone
please. Someone pick up the phone. This is Lynch, sheriff's
department. Hello? Someone there pick up the phone,
please? [aside he seems to say, "Had hopes . . ."]
Voice: Hello. [Seems shouted as if it's a speaker phone.]
Lynch: Hello. Who is this? Is this Wayne? Hello, this is
Lynch, sheriff's office.
Voice: Tell them to call . .
Lynch: Wayne?
Voice: Tell them to call it off! [shouted and sounds somewhat
frantic]
Lynch: Who is this, Wayne?
Voice: Tell them to pull back!
Lynch: Are you injured Wayne?
Voice, now identified as Martin: No. [softly] I'm under fire!
[shouted]
Lynch: Okay. I know you're under fire, but are you hurt?
Martin: [long pause] Not yet!
Lynch: Okay. Wayne. Cease firing. [slowly and distinctly] Do
not fire anymore. Okay? [ABC slide indicates Lynch says,
"Wayne, talk to me. Wayne, tell me how you are." here, but it
sure isn't on the tape broadcast]
Martin: I have a right to defend myself. They
started firing first.
Lynch: Okay. Wh . . . Let's resolve it. Let's not . . .
Let's resolve this Wayne, before someone gets hurt. Okay? I'm
trying to make contact with the forces outside. Okay?
Martin: Okay!
Lynch: All right.
Unidentified Davidian: There's a chopper with more of them.
Lynch: What!?
Davidian: Another chopper with more people and more guns going
off. Here they come!
Lynch: All right, Wayne, tell . . .
Davidian: We're not firing. That's not us, that's them.
Lynch: Okay. Tha . . . All right. Are you, are you ready to
come out and give up? Are you ready to terminate this Wayne?
Martin: We want to cease fire! We'll stop! [shouted and
frantic(?)]
Lynch: Standby.[aside to someone, "We need to get. Try the ah,
ah, radio van. They're not finding (?) our frequency]
Dispatcher: This is dispatch to the radio van. [sound of
gunshots]
Lynch: Sta . . . Who's firing now?
Davidian: They are!
Wayne: They are!
Lynch: All right. Standby. I'm tryin' to reach 'em. Stand.
Don't return fire, okay?
Davidian: We haven't been.
Lynch: What?
Davidian: We haven't been. [sounds disgusted]
Lynch: Okay.
Dispatcher: One-twenty-seven (?) that radio van emergency
tracing (?)
Lynch: Where are you Wayne? In the, in, on the property. So I
can tell 'em.
Martin: South wall. [Strange sounds. Sounds like "swish,
swish" or an old typewriter clicking. Incoming rounds?]
Lynch: What?
Martin: South wall.
Lynch: I can barely understand you.
Martin: Get down (?). [Two phone tones, two different pitches,
one short, one long.] [sounds of gunfire, muffled]
Voices in background: Here they come! They comin'? Sounds
that way (?)
Martin: They got me! [Sounds of gunfire or maybe rounds coming
in and breaking up things. Sounds more like whip cracks than
gun shots. Hard to explain.]
Lynch: Okay. [Larger amount of noises. Dispatcher in
background sounds like she says, ". . .three has been murdered .
. . treated . . ."] Are you returning fire Wayne?
Martin: No. [sounds like at least one "noise" per second]
Lynch: All right. Why are they shooting Wayne?
Martin: Because that's them, they haven't kept (?) and (?)
they're shootin' up the floor. [hard to tell what he's saying
because of the sound of the shots plus he's shouting plus he's
excited]
Lynch: What?
Martin: They're ki. . . Oh shit! [word is bleeped but that's
what he says]
Lynch: What's the matter?
Martin: They're. What do you think? They're doing all this
firing at us right now. [sounds very angry now]
Lynch: [Not clear to who. ". . . I have not, and, and, ah,
nobody's responding to the damn radio. I've got, ah,
I've got one man hurt inside here. I'm talking with Wayne now,
he's inside, they want everybody to back off and talk. I'm
trying to get, ah, what radio frequency? They told use your
radio van, we're not getting a response."] Wayne?
Martin: Right here.
Lynch: Okay. We're working on it so just hang, hang loose. Do
not return fire Wayne, okay? Just kind of hold what you've got
'til we get this situation settled and yo, your willing to talk
to 'em?"
Martin: Yeah. [weakly]
Lynch: Will you visit with them?
Martin: Yeah!
Lynch: Okay. All right. We'll get ya someone to talk to here
in just a second.
Martin: Hello, Lynch?
Lynch: Yeah.
Martin: I gotta pass the word.
Lynch: What?
Martin: I have to pass the word.
Lynch: Okay. Start passin' the word. Tell 'em just to hold
their fire. Tell 'em not to return fire.
Martin: Okay!
Lynch: Okay? {A lot more gunfire, possibly some full auto. In
about 8 seconds, between the end of "Okay" and the start of the
aside, I count at least 21 distinct shots. Some seem to be 3
shot bursts.] [Aside to someone, ". . .ow the radio van yet?"]
Are you getting the word out?
Martin: I'm tryin'.
Lynch: Okay. [lot of commotion] Standby.
Dispatcher: Standby one-twenty.
Martin: Can (?) we get word to vjay (?).
Dispatcher: Standby one-ninety.
Martin: [not clear - not to Lynch]
Lynch: Wayne.
Dispatcher: Four-eleven Tyler on a . . . 15
Lynch: Wayne.
Dispatcher: . . . and . . . 32. Sheila Home (?) the complainant.
Martin: If we hold fire you ask them to hold fire.
Lynch: Wayne.
Martin: I passed the word. [shouted]
Lynch: Okay. Wayne. How many casualties? Tell me so I can
help get some help to ya when this thing calms down.
Martin: I don't know yet.
Lynch: Try to get me a head count Wayne. Work with me so we
can get some help to people so they don't lay there without help.
Martin: I'll find out.
Lynch: Okay. Thanks. [aside, "I can't believe this!"]
Ted Koppel: [They both praise Lt. Lynch. Bolz thinks Martin
was being honest. Despite Koppel's prodding, Bolz won't say
anything good about the BATF. He says, ". . . from the
inception there was a lack of communication, lack of
intelligence in terms of the fact that they shouldn't have gone
in at the point in time, and the discipline of firepower.
Unfortunately, they were unable to stop and have that cease fire
that they were looking for right away."]
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