A timeline of the Ruby Ridge standoff
A shootout between U.S. Marshals, Randy Weaver and his friend Kevin Harris led to an 11-day siege at Weaver's cabin on Ruby Ridge, near Naples, Idaho.
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A shootout between U.S. Marshals, Randy Weaver and his friend Kevin Harris led to an 11-day siege at Weaver's cabin on Ruby Ridge, near Naples, Idaho.
Randy Weaver is arrested by Boundary County Sheriff Bruce Whittaker and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for possessing a sawed-off shotgun. He is taken to Coeur d’Alene where, the next day, he is released because he has no prior criminal record.
Weaver fails to show up for his trial in Moscow, Idaho, and a bench warrant is issued. Federal authorities say he and his family are heavily armed and holed up in his cabin, so surveillance is begun but no arrest is attempted.
U.S. marshals are watching the Weaver cabin when a family dog picks up their scent. Federal agents encounter Weaver, Harris and Weaver’s 14-year-old son, Samuel. A gun battle erupts between the federal agents, Weaver and Harris.
Fourteen-year-old Samuel Weaver is killed in the gun battle between Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris and six federal marshals.
U.S. Deputy Marshal William Degan of Boston was killed in the gun battle between Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris and six federal marshals.
Hundreds of state and federal authorities, equipped with helicopters and armored personnel carriers, pour into the woods, putting a perimeter around the cabin. More personnel arrive later.
Protesters rally at a roadblock at the base of Ruby Ridge, holding signs saying “Leave Them Alone!” and “Your Home Could Be Next.”
Late in the day on August 22, Vicki Weaver is killed and Randy Weaver and Harris are wounded by FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi.
Vicki Weaver is killed during a firefight just before midnight when FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi aims at Harris as he runs toward the cabin; the bullet smashes through the door, goes through Vicki Weaver’s head and strikes Harris, who is injured but not killed. Horiuchi also shoots Randy Weaver in the arm during the same firefight as Weaver unlatches the shed containing the body of his dead son Samuel.
For several days, media, protesters and neighbors staked out the roadblock which federal authorities used to keep people out of the area while they negotiated the surrender of Weaver.
Federal agents tighten their perimeter around the cabin and discover the body of Sammy Weaver lying next to his rifle in a shed on the property. The news enrages the already volatile crowd at the roadblock.
Five neo-Nazi skinheads are arrested at gunpoint after their Jeep, filled with weapons and ammunition, is stopped on a back road near Weaver’s cabin. Some of Weaver’s sympathizers say they wish they’d stayed away. “Randy Weaver might be a racist,” one neighbor says. “But this isn’t about racism and these guys want you to think it is.”
News that Vicki Weaver is dead is brought down the mountain by former Green Beret Bo Gritz. Gritz, unbeknownst to Randy Weaver, is wired so federal agents can hear their exchanges.
Kevin Harris surrenders, admitting that he shot Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan. Weaver allows Gritz and a family friend to bring his wife’s body off the mountain.
The standoff ends on the 11th day. Weaver is arrested and taken to Boise. His daughters are taken to a nearby home where they are in the care of relatives.