Question of Missing Bullet Casings Now Issue in Oregon Refuge Shooting

Robert LaVoy Finicum.

Robert LaVoy Finicum, a close confidant of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his family, was fatally shot on Jan. 26 as he and others who were illegally occupying a federal wildlife refuge attempted to drive to an adjoining county.

Oregon State Police troopers killed Finicum, a state investigation concluded, while suggesting at least one FBI agent also fired his weapon. Those expended bullet casings were not found at the shooting scene, the Oregonian and The Washington Post reported Wednesday in separate accounts.

Assorted militia and antigovernment extremist groups already are capitalizing on the possibility of “an FBI cover-up” in connection with the only fatality during the 41-day siege at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. That’s apparently exactly what the FBI was attempting to avoid with its initial low-key role in the Oregon militia standoff, viewed by some as shockingly passive, almost invisible. 

The state investigation and autopsy determined Finicum, a 54-year-old Arizona rancher and foster parent, died from three bullets fired by Oregon State Police officers who were manning a highway roadblock with members of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. The state investigation concluded the shooting was justified because video tape evidence showed Finicum, who was attempting to flee, was reaching for a loaded handgun in his clothing.

The investigation also suggested at least one FBI agent may have fired two rounds, one of which a forensic reconstruction determined ended up striking Finicum’s late-model Dodge pickup that had become stuck in a roadside snow bank as he attempted to flee. Five FBI agents who were at the scene denied firing their weapons during the fatal encounter, the state report disclosed.

Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson said investigators developed “conclusive evidence” that “FBI HRT operators fired two shots as Mr. Finicum exited the truck, and one shot hit the truck.” Nelson accused the agents of failing to “disclose their shots to our investigators.” 

If there’s evidence the federal agents lied to state investigators, they could face discipline by the bureau and the possibility of criminal prosecution.

The Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon are now investigating whether there was dishonesty or a cover-up by the FBI agents.

The Oregonian reported Wednesday that a state trooper described “seeing two rifle casings in the area where the [FBI] agents were posted,” but evidence-collecting detectives later didn’t find the copper-colored casings.

“FBI aerial surveillance video shows that before the detectives could get there, the FBI agents searched the area with flashlights and then huddled,” the newspaper reported, quoting unidentified law enforcement sources. “One agent appeared to bend over twice and pick up something near where the two shots likely were taken.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post published a report that it had confirmed the video account with a law enforcement official.  “If allegations of a cover-up are determined to be true, the incident would be hugely embarrassing to the FBI and deal a devastating blow to the FBI team’s reputation,” the Post reported.

The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team uses copper-colored casings, while OSP troopers use only silver-colored casings. Copper casings were never recovered from the shooting scene, the Post reported.

Greg Bretzing, the FBI agent in charge of Oregon, has conceded “one, and possibly two” additional shots were fired by law enforcement, but neither of those shots struck Mr. Finicum.” the FBI supervisor said.

“The question of who fired these shots has not been resolved,” Bretzing said last week, now declining further comment.

The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, whose operators are highly skilled marksmen, was created after the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972.

“Team operators … have repeatedly deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, embedding with Navy SEAL and Delta Force commandos. Most recently, the FBI unit has been working with Delta Force in Iraq,” the Post account said.

The HRT team also played key roles “in some of the FBI’s worst disasters — including raids in Waco, Tex., and at Ruby Ridge in Idaho — and some of its finest operations,” the newspaper reported. “In 2013, unit operators were involved in the rescues of two kidnapped children, a 16-year-old girl in Idaho and a 7-year-old boy in Alabama.”