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Planning for last week's raid began months ago, when federal and state law- enforcement officials concluded that cult members were stockpiling guns and preparing to make legal semiautomatics into illegal automatic weapons. ATF agents acquired a house near the compound, pretending to be neighbors and potential recruits. Search warrant in hand, more than 100 agents charged the buildings early Sunday morning, only to be met by an explosion of gunfire. "From the moment we stepped out of the trailer we were under fire from everywhere," says one agent who was pinned to the ground for 45 minutes.
The failure of the assault led to criticisms that ATF had fatally underestimated its adversary -- or overestimated its own capabilities in a bid for the media spotlight. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, whose department includes the bureau, promised a full inquiry. ATF officials claim that the raid failed largely because Koresh was tipped off. About 45 minutes before the shooting began, an agent who had infiltrated the cult's worship services saw Koresh get a phone call that he believes warned him that attackers were on their way.
Among the questions that remain is why ATF agents did not try to nab Koresh on the frequent occasions when he left the compound to jog, shop or eat in local restaurants. And with children in the buildings, why didn't they treat the whole operation as a delicate hostage situation? "When these groups are confronted by law enforcement they should be handled gingerly," said Marc Galanter, a professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, who has studied cults. "You should establish communication rather than confront them head on."
ATF spokesman Jack Killorin said that his bureau decided to move because it believed that during a long siege -- or even if Koresh were seized alone outside -- cult members would opt for suicide, taking the children with them. And almost all showdowns with determined and fanatical groups have led to casualties, he insisted, no matter how they were handled. "We've gone about them in a number of different ways -- ruse, ambush, siege and talk," said Killorin. "In almost every one we lose law-enforcement officers."
After two days of negotiation that followed the shootout, Koresh promised to surrender himself peacefully if he could deliver a statement on radio. But after his rambling 58-minute address was broadcast on Christian stations around the country, he reneged, saying he was still awaiting "further instructions from God." With Biblical scholars on hand to help them fathom Koresh's thinking, three negotiating teams headed by the FBI remained in periodic phone contact with him and other Davidians. "The constant theme is, 'When are you coming out?' " said Jeffrey Jamar, the FBI agent in charge of the operation.