{"id":112425,"date":"2020-05-03T13:33:48","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T17:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=112425"},"modified":"2020-05-03T13:33:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T00:56:54","slug":"the-shannon-street-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-shannon-street-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Rem
This nondescript house in North Memphis was the site of Something Truly Horrible back in 1983. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On January 12, 1983, on a\ncluttered street in Memphis, Tennessee, an off-duty police officer happened\nupon a purse snatching. Unable to apprehend the criminal, the officer did,\nhowever, recognize the suspect. The cop subsequently drove to the man\u2019s home in\nthe company of two other patrolmen. Finding the house empty the officers actually\ncontacted the suspect but were unable to understand him on the phone. They\nsubsequently gave up, filed a report, and called it a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Lindberg Sanders had a documented history of mental illness and an insensate hatred for police officers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the time the suspect\nin the purse snatching was at another house in North Memphis along with\nthirteen other African American males. These men had spent the day smoking\nmarijuana and drinking alcohol. They were all members of a nameless religious\ncult led by a 49-year-old mental patient named Lindberg Sanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Sanders was a Rastafarian of sorts only with a liberal sprinkling of crazy scattered across the top. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lindbergh Sanders described\nhimself as \u201cBlack Jesus,\u201d and his was an odd theology indeed. His Rastafarian\nrites forbade his acolytes from eating pork, drinking water, or wearing hats. He\nhad informed his followers that the world would end on January 10th<\/sup>,\ntwo days prior. When he was proved wrong he found himself in a foul mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The interaction between Sanders\u2019 strange cult and the Memphis Police Department ended badly. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amongst a bewildering\narray of nonsensical practices, Sanders also vehemently denigrated the police\nas tools of Satan. The relatively benign purse snatching query from police catalyzed\nSanders\u2019 toxic milieu. The subsequent conflagration was an epic bloodbath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Patrolman Bobby Hester was a combat veteran and an experienced police officer. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sanders had the original suspect anonymously call the police to his North Memphis house ostensibly to discuss the purse snatching. 34-year-old Vietnam veteran Patrolman Bobby Hester and his partner Ray Schwill answered the call. Once they entered the house the two white police officers realized they were both surrounded and outnumbered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Officer Hester found himself at the mercy of crazed cultists. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hester radioed for\nbackup, and the two officers attempted to extricate themselves. The cultists\ngained control of Officer Schwill\u2019s gun and shot him in the face with it. Schwill\nnonetheless made it to the door and safety. Patrolman Hester was taken captive.\nSeveral members of the cult fled the house and were eventually apprehended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Officers used this van for cover during the subsequent exchange of fire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first responding officer immediately attempted to enter the home only to be thrown bodily off the porch. The second went in shooting, exiting the house to reload several times. Despite his efforts, they were nonetheless unable to reach Patrolman Hester. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Police negotiators attempted to establish a rapport with Sanders and his followers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Memphis Police quickly\nsurrounded the house and began negotiations with Sanders. Sanders and his\nfollowers had Officer Hester\u2019s radio and used it to communicate with\nauthorities. Sanders announced his intent to murder Officer Hester live over a\nMemphis radio station. He stated that he held a gun to the patrolman\u2019s head and\nthat any effort to approach the house would end in the lawman\u2019s death. Neighbors\nand the escaped cult members all claimed the suspects were heavily armed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
This was the bedroom where Hester was held throughout the ordeal. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What happened next is\ndisputed. Sanders activated the radio as his followers beat and tortured Patrolman\nHester. Hester\u2019s pleas could be heard clearly by officers outside the dwelling.\nHis comrades pressed for permission to attempt a rescue. Concerned about\nSanders\u2019 earlier threat and still holding out hope for a peaceful solution,\nadministrators dragged out their discourse with Sanders for some thirty hours. This\nfateful decision has been second-guessed countless times since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
When it became obvious that all peaceful options had been exhausted, Memphis police commanders gave their approval for an assault. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At 0300 on January 13th<\/sup>\neverything went quiet. Sanders refused to communicate, and Hester could no\nlonger be heard. Microphones pointed at the house detected, \u201cMy daddy is dead.\nMy brother is dead. The devil is dead.\u201d  Police\nadministrators finally gave the go-ahead for a dynamic entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Assault<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Rem
The Memphis PD tactical team led with tear gas. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The six-man Memphis TACT team deployed tear gas and flash-bang grenades before storming the house. They carried M16A1 rifles and 12-gauge shotguns. The entire operation took some twenty minutes. The tactical team was met with gunfire in the first room they entered. Patrolman Hester\u2019s body had been placed near the front door in a vain effort at slowing their progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The TACT team officers neutralized all of the barricaded suspects despite the low light and cluttered nature of the home. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the ensuing firefight, the tactical team fired a total of eighty rounds. Sanders and his remaining followers were killed to a man, all but one shot in the head. The suspects fired a total of twelve rounds from the two .38 revolvers taken from Hester and Schwill. These were the only two firearms recovered at the scene. Crime scene diagrams and photographs depicted the dead cult members lined up on the floor in a bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
By the time tactical officers made their entry Officer Hester had been dead for hours. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tactical team found Hester handcuffed to a chair and beaten to death. He had been viciously tortured with a variety of implements. At the time of the assault, Hester had been dead between twelve and twenty-four hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Weapons<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Rem
This was one of the M16A1 rifles used by the Memphis TACT team. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tactical team carried selective-fire M16A1 rifles and short-barreled Remington 870 pump-action shotguns. I was seventeen years old and living about an hour south of Memphis at the time of this tragedy. I recall seeing news reports of the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
I remember images on the news of the officers\u2019 M16A1 rifles sporting heavy police flashlights taped to their forends. Configuring their weapons thusly would have made them much more effective in the chaotic darkness of Sanders\u2019 cluttered home. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the combat inside the\nhouse would inevitably be close range, dark, and pitiless, news reports showed\nthat the SWAT officers had secured powerful D-cell police flashlights to the\ntriangular forends of their weapons with tape. Observers outside the house\nreported hearing automatic weapons fire during the assault. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The M16A1 was the standard-issue military weapon for US armed forces for almost two decades. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The M16A1 is a\nlightweight and maneuverable assault rifle well suited for combat in close\nquarters. Nowadays everybody mounts tactical lights on the forends of their\nweapons. In 1983, however, the use of onboard weapon lights was groundbreaking\nstuff indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The earliest AR15 rifles were almost identical to the new BRN-Proto from Brownells. This is a splendid recreation of those first trailblazing weapons even down to their unique 25-round straight magazines. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The M16A1 was a product-improved\nversion of the original Stoner-inspired AR15. In 1958 the US military first\nconducted trials of these small-caliber 5.56mm rifles alongside the heavier\n.30-caliber M14. Initial reports were overwhelmingly positive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The earliest M16 rifles deployed for combat in Vietnam sported a three-prong flash suppressor, a slick-sided upper receiver, and a buttstock without a trap for cleaning supplies. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a result, in 1963 the\nfirst batch of redesignated M16 rifles was shipped to Vietnam for combat trials\nwith South Vietnamese Army units and US Army Special Forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The M16A1 included several improvements over the previous M16. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soon thereafter the weapon was updated to include an enclosed birdcage flash suppressor, a forward bolt assist device, and a redesigned buttstock with a rigid sling swivel and storage compartment for a cleaning kit. This improved rifle was designated the M16A1 and soldiered on until replaced by the heavier M16A2 in the 1980s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The Remington 870 slide-action shotgun is the most produced scattergun in human history. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Remington 870 slide action shotgun first saw service in 1950 and has remained in constant production until the present day. More than 11 million copies have been manufactured. The 870 is a bottom-loading, side-ejecting slide-action design that feeds from an under-barrel tubular magazine. Literally countless stock, magazine, and barrel options have made the 870 the most accessorized and customized shotgun ever contrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
This was one of the shotguns used in the Shannon Street assault. Note the 12-inch barrel and custom ammo holder. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The shotguns used in the\nShannon Street assault sported wooden stocks, shortened 12-inch barrels, and\naccessory ammunition carriers. In competent hands and at close quarters this\nweapon would offer overwhelming firepower combined with respectable maneuverability.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
The tapered forearm of the M16A1 lent itself to the improvised attachment of a police flashlight. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This operation\nrepresented a very early example of the tactical use of onboard weapon lights.\nThe trend has subsequently circled the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story\u2026<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Rem
Memphis police tactics evolved substantially as a direct result of the Shannon Street debacle. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Repercussions from the\nShannon Street Massacre, as it has come to be called, resonate even today. The\ndecision to delay the assault in favor of negotiations ultimately sealed\nOfficer Hester\u2019s fate. Nowadays Memphis PD tactical doctrine mandates an\nassault the moment there is evidence of harm to an officer or citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Officer Schwill was later accused of taunting Sanders during their initial exchange. If true I am not justifying this behavior. However, I have worked in an inner-city ER. It is tough not to get jaded when you are immersed in violence and chaos all the time. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lindberg Sanders\u2019 family\npaints an entirely different picture of the events that led up to the bloody\nnighttime assault at 2239 Shannon Street. They claim that the initial phone call\nto the police was intended to clear up a misunderstanding over the purse\nsnatching. They say that things spiraled out of control only after Officer\nSchwill began goading Lindberg and his followers with a faux black accent, something\nhe was apparently wont to do.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Several conflicting versions of events have been proposed in the years since the assault. Note the live 5.56mm round found ejected outside the Shannon Street home. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sanders\u2019 surviving children point out that six of the seven cult members were killed with shots to the head despite possessing only the two captured police weapons among them. This observation combined with the orientation of the bodies at the crime scene led them to claim that the suspects were killed execution-style. The pathology report did state, however, that there were no powder burns on the bodies. This would imply that they were all shot from a modest distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Given what Sanders and his followers did to Officer Hester I find it difficult to dredge up a great deal of sympathy for them. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most of the sources I\ncould find referred to the seven dead suspects as victims. Given that they\ntortured a police officer to death I struggle with that characterization.\nHowever, in the final analysis, little of it really matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Hester\u2019s squad car remained outside the Shannon Street home during the standoff. Relationships between minority communities and Law Enforcement remain a thorny problem to this day. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Self-serving politicians,\na ghoulish media, and our nation\u2019s affinity for remaining perpetually offended\ncontinue to fuel tension between the black community and Law Enforcement. According\nto those who knew him, Lindberg Sanders hated cops no matter their race, age,\nor gender. In 1983 eight people lost their lives in the early salvoes of a self-sustaining\ncycle of hatred and violence that persists today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rem
Officer Bobby Hester was a casualty of the ongoing race-defined conflict in modern America. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rem
Onboard weapon lights like this superb 1000-lumen Streamlight PROTAC HL-X are de rigueur today. Lights on weapons were radical stuff indeed back in 1983. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rem<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lindberg Sanders hated cops no matter their race, age, or gender. In 1983 eight people lost their lives in the early salvoes of a self-sustaining cycle of hatred and violence that persists today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":112431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[132,102,752,536],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-112425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-feature-articles","11":"tag-historical-guns","12":"tag-police"},"yoast_head":"\nRem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-shannon-street-massacre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lindberg Sanders hated cops no matter their race, age, or gender. In 1983 eight people lost their lives in the early salvoes of a self-sustaining cycle of hatred and violence that persists today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-shannon-street-massacre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gun Reviews and News | GunsAmerica.com\/Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/will.dabbs.9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-03T17:33:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-06T00:56:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/shannondabbs-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"897\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Will Dabbs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Will Dabbs\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4b818f415191c071a88bdc0d8cb33eca\"},\"headline\":\"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-03T17:33:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-06T00:56:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1988,\"commentCount\":26,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/shannondabbs-4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Buzz\",\"Feature Articles\",\"Historical Guns\",\"Police\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Historical Guns\",\"Will Dabbs\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/the-shannon-street-massacre\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/shannondabbs-4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-03T17:33:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-06T00:56:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre - 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\\\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.word-monkey.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/will.dabbs.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/drwildmanmd\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/willdabbs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre","description":"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre - Will Dabbs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-shannon-street-massacre\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rem 870, M16A1, & The Shannon Street Massacre","og_description":"Lindberg Sanders hated cops no matter their race, age, or gender. 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