Sitton says many questions remain in SWAT tragedy

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Sitton says many questions remain in SWAT tragedy By JOHN FUQUAY Avalanche-Journal Many Lubbock residents are wondering why a SWAT team was called on July 13 to a South Lubbock domestic dispute, and Mayor Windy Sitton said Friday that she wonders as well.Sitton said she has asked many questions about the incident, and is waiting for answers.''The questions I've had from the very beginning is, there was a statement made by a police officer at the hospital that he was worried that he might have been the one who shot Police Officer Kevin Cox,'' Sitton said.''I am told that statement was made at the hospital. ... I've got these questions then. That statement was made, we found no shell casings in the house. To my knowledge, they couldn't find any guns that had been fired in that house.''The city attorney viewed the tape that (FOX) Channel 34 provided. She noticed that the sound was so loud that it startled the cameraman, because there was a slight jump. She deduced, and I'm not saying it's fact, but she deduced that shot could not have come from inside the house because it was too loud. ... My question is: Did the police see that tape? Were they able to deduce that early on and if not, why didn't they? Why were they not able to do that?''A cameraman was across the street from Dick Robinson's house during the standoff when gunfire erupted. Initially, Robinson had refused to come out after a quarrel with his wife.As a SWAT team began a tactical operation at one side of the house, a police officer fired an accidental shot, and Cox was killed. In the next few minutes, at least 179 shots were fired by officers at the scene.Police initially believed Robinson shot Cox, and Robinson, who also was injured during the shooting, was handcuffed in a hospital bed for at least part of five days. Upon his release, he was charged with capital murder.A week after the shooting, police realized Robinson did not fire the shot that killed Cox. Robinson was released, and the charge was dismissed.The officer who fired the fatal shot has not been identified, but investigators believe it was either a sniper across the street or a SWAT team member in Cox's immediate vicinity.Before Robinson was cleared, Sitton said, police searched his house and found several guns and books about guns, ammunition and concealment tactics. Those items gave police probable cause, she said.She said Police Chief Ken Walker learned five days after the shooting that evidence suggested Robinson did not fire the deadly round.Sitton said all her information has come from City Manager Bob Cass or City Attorney Anita Burgess. She has not had a formal briefing with police officials, she said.She said she is satisfied that police acted quickly to drop the murder charge when they began having doubts about where the shot came from. However, she noted that the investigation is not complete.''I think a good case in point is this, why it's not a good idea to be making public comments before an investigation is final, because it was reported that Tracy Taylor was the one who shot Kevin Cox.''Now that more has come out from the investigation, there is a question about who did fire that shot. We honestly do not know who fired that shot, and it is plausible that we will never know,'' Sitton said.She said the shooter's identity is one of many questions she has. She wonders whether the SWAT team needed to be deployed in the first place.''These are questions that I have. I want to know, was it necessary to have 24 SWAT team members out there, is that typical? Those are the questions I'm asking. I haven't gotten that report yet.''Another question I have is why did we go into that house? Why did we conduct that break and rake? For the life of me, I'm having a hard time understanding that.''It was three o'clock in the afternoon, you've got a man threatening to kill himself, he has not threatened to kill anyone else. ... Was it necessary to have that armored car out there for a domestic dispute? ... Was our SWAT team properly trained once it was out there?''What seems to be evolving here is we've got approximately 179 rounds fired, almost 400 bullet holes in a man's house. I'm wondering, did we have a target inside, one target, even any target? But I know I'm not going to get those answers until the investigation is complete.''Ten days after the shooting, Cass put Walker on paid administrative leave, and Walker has since claimed he was defamed in Cass' letter relieving him of duty.Although Sitton said she supports Cass' reasons, she confirmed for the first time that Taylor's presence on the SWAT team may have influenced Cass' decision.Cass was unavailable Friday for comment.Taylor, 34, shot and killed 15-year-old Joseph De La Rosa on March 11, 1999, after the boy threatened police and family members with a knife.Taylor was exonerated in a police review and cleared by a grand jury. A federal judge later dismissed a civil lawsuit filed by the teen's mother against the city, Walker and Taylor.''I had a serious concern ... one was for that officer's well-being. He had been in a very traumatic incident in the De La Rosa case. A man cannot go through something like that and not suffer some kind of emotional trauma and stress,'' Sitton said.''Why would we put him on a SWAT team with the possibility that he might go through something like that again?''If you look at it from the other side, I was told by Bob Cass ... that Tracy Taylor was, I think because of the emotional trauma and stress he had gone through, that he would probably, probably be in an office job or probably out at the police academy.''Out of concern for him as an officer, and out of concern that he had been placed in that kind of position once, I questioned the judgment of anyone, whether it was Chief Walker or whoever allowed him to be on the SWAT team.''Dallas Attorney Steve DeWolf represents both Walker and Taylor. DeWolf said Taylor did not fire the fatal shot and that Walker was not involved in SWAT assignments.John Fuquay can be contacted at 766-8722 or jfuquay@lubbockonline.com