1998: Taft gun shop owner killed in gun shop. Suicide or murder?

[tenpercentfirearms]

E Pluribus Unum, I pretty much agree with you. I don't see how Bob Bendel would want to cover any of those guy's rear ends if they just off and capped someone. I think you are dead on in saying if the ATF tried something, both Sheriff Bendel and Ed Whiting would not take a risk for the feds.

I don't think it is inconcievable that if you knew you were never going to own guns again and your life pretty much revolved around guns, you wouldn't have much to live for. However, I didn't know Daryl very well so I am not sure if he was that type of man. I am just commenting on what I think is plausable and even if Daryl wasn't that type of man earlier that morning, you have no way of knowing what you feel when you see the feds come in through your door with the local cops.

The one thing we can take from this whole incident is how crazy small town rumors are. You can hear this story told about 100 different ways if you were to go through town asking questions. Trust me, I hear about the "last gun shop in town" quite frequently.

I thought Pease was quite the opposite of liberal. He came across to me as a strict constitutionalist. I took his class in the fall of 1995.

Yeah, I don't think that safety was on. I have heard it is common that if the handgun is not held properly that the firearm won't function, so that would explain the decocked pistol. It is plausable that whoever wrote those stories heard "the hammer was not cocked" and wrote "the safety was on". I just noticed that was definitely something that didn't match up.

[E Pluribus Unum]

I thought Pease was quite the opposite of liberal. He came across to me as a strict constitutionalist. I took his class in the fall of 1995.

Dr. Peace is a very intellegent man and he loves to argue. He would get into the debates all of the time and try to get under your skin. Its hard to tell what his core values are because many times he just likes to argue so if he knows where you stand on the issue he will choose the other side.

We would spend most of the time in class arguing about guns and gun rights; the part that gets me is when he starts saying that Ed should have shot Daryl in the leg.... this kind of mentality is crazy thinking.


P.S.
I took his class just before the shooting in 1997-98 school year.

[rkt88edmo]

Interesting accounts, thanks EPU.

[DVUSWAZ]

It’s kind of interesting you bring this up.

I knew Darryl Howell
I know Ed Whiting
I know Dr. Peace
I was living in Taft at the time of the shooting. As a matter of fact I was at the barber shop across the street the day it happened although not at the time.........

Here is what I have to say about it:

Darryl was a friend to me and many many others, including people who needed a place to stay. He was also friends with the Sheriff's Deputies and Taft Police Officers who regularly came into his shop and purchased guns, ammo etc etc. I also purchased many firearms from Darryl, including my AR-15 I currently carry here at the Taft PD. We all miss Darryl, he was a good guy, no doubt about it.


Here is the actual story, Darryl did not run away into the building, we were standing just in front of his counter when he broke free and ran behind the counter and grabbed a loaded .45 auto. (I was in the process of searching him for weapons.) ATF Agent grabs Darryl and I assist, but it was too late, Darryl and the agent fight over the gun in a very narrow very confined area. Darryl and I are both big boys and add to that the ATF agent and one can see there ain't much room to move around. The ATF agent has his hand on Darryl's .45 and so does Darryl, and they are fighting to control it. They have their backs to me. I have my gun out to protect the agent when a shot rings out. The agent fall off to the left over the counter as though he is shot, and Darryl is still standing up in front of me. I cannot see who is immediately shot and I am not going to let anyone else get shot by Darryl and his .45, so I shot Darryl 3 times with my Glock 22. The third shot I actually touched Darryl and he fell down. What I did not immediately know was that Darryl got his gun into his mouth (I was directly behind him and could not see this) and pulled the trigger. Sadly, Darryl was dead in an instant and his body did not know enough to fall down. When I touched him with the muzzle of my glock is when he fell down. The mass of .40 caliber bullets is not, and never has been, enough to knock any person down. All that is movie crap. Had the angle been just a little less, the bullet would have missed the base of his skull and travelled out the back of his neck and into my face. But by the grace of God we all go, even cops.

By the way, the Senior ATF Agent that first grabbed Darryl that fateful day, retired just after the incident with hearing loss in his right ear due to close proximety he was to the .45 when that first shot rang out.

As for the part aboput no illegal guns were found in Darryl's shop, this is untrue. An unregistered AK-47 type rifle was secreted into the counter which was full auto. An MAK-90 on bi-pod, also modified to shoot full auto was in a window over looking the counter we all did business at. It was locked and loaded with a Beta-C mag and 2 additional loaded Beta-C's right next to it. Any of you ever been into Darryl's shop, you would have never known the MAK-90 was there, but it was. You see Darryl keep a very large Confederate Flag posted on the wall in front of the window. His nickname was "Rebel", for those who remember Darryl, and the flag. That flag covered the window, are what I will tell you is really a machine gun nest of sorts. That same wall is backed by 2 liter Dr. Pepper bottles, filled with water, 3 deep, floor to ceiling, the entire width of the interior wall. Darryl lived in a room behind his shop and on his work bench was spools of Det chord and grenades is various states of being remanufactured. A .45 auto and one spare magazine were in every part of his room always within 6-7 feet of him at all times. (including his shower area) (Total of 8 additonal .45's.)

I think it is safe to say Darryl had a seige mentality.

Had we used a SWAT team to make entry, instead of the "Hi how are you, how is business today, low key approach we tried, I think there would have been a lot of dead SWAT cops. For what it is worth, Darryl's gun shop was only one of a total of 5 places they hit that day, the rest were hit with SWAT teams, Darryl's was the only one that wasn't. No one else was injured or killed and no other shots fired on the other four(4) places. I will tell all of you this, the reason I made the decision for a low key entry was so no one would get hurt, including Darryl. I liked Darryl. I just did not any reason to bust up his shop and embarrass him further. Make what you will of this, I will always carry with me this decision to make a low key approach as oppossed to a true SWAT high risk service.

As for the section marked "Rumors:"

True, all just rumors.

As for the shooting review board. The Chief and Capt. who held the review board would have hung my *** out to dry, legally and criminally, had I not done the right thing for the right reasons. It is as simple as that. Their review was based on the investigation by the Kern County Sheriff's Dept. and the District Attorney's office.


Interesting part about the ATF Agents and covering for them if I did not know them. True I did not know the ATF's Agents. True, I would not cover for them and I know they would not cover for me. I also had to go through their own internal affairs investigation of their agents actions from some hard nosed IA FEDS from the Falls Church Office. I can assure you they would not have covered up anything they found. As for my shots, they would have been fatal. My shots took out both lungs, the heart, and his throat. (180 PMC Starfire mushroomed to 82 caliber, X 3, will do that.)

Here is the real story about what Darryl was doing. Darryl was ordering Sten gun parts, minus the receivers, from and through a source in Shotgun news. He made the receivers out of common muffler pipe. (I still have one in the armory we took off a bad guy) Remember, the Sten gun was made for a very low cost during WWII by the British, and even easier to copy. Darryl needed the money. Darryl was a big man, 350 pounds at about 5-5 tall. He also had a big heart, I mean that physically. At his first autopsy, of the total 3 that were done, they found his heart was enlarged 2 1/2 times, and Darryl knew this. His previous girlfriend told the ATF IA guys, on tape, that Darryl suspected he was being investigated as early as the week before we went to his place. He also told his girlfriend that if we tried to arrest him he would not go out the door with them and try to take some of us with him. He cited his own poor health to her asa basis for this reasoning. (This would have been a nice peice of info to have had at the raid briefing, but alas, it was not to be.)

As for the lawsuit, one was never filed. The family did retain an attorney firm and conducted their own independent investigation, which included two(2) additional autopsies. They declined to file. The family wanted an end to it, as did I. (3 months of coverage in the Bakersfield Californian is enough for anyone, I can assure you.)

As for full auto weapons, I am for them, and I use them in my line of work, and I fully and intentionally support the second amendment and all of you in doing so. And yes, I would love to be with any of you on the shooting range doing just that.

My closing: I am a rangemaster at the Taft PD and support Ten Percent Firearms, their owners and agents all alike. (I also seem to buy a lot of guns there to for some strange reason......Wes is a smooth talking salesman type, LOL.....I also fully support the 2A and all of you who want or need to carry firearms. Darryl made a criminal mistake, most likely because he needed the money. This did not make him an evil person. No one wished him harm, certainly not me. I sorry for the way it turned out, and will forever carry with me the question of "High Risk - Dynamic entry" versus "low key" approach we took.

Only God knows that answer for sure.

Sgt. Whiting - Taft PD

[DVUSWAZ]

I will also add that the investigation was done soley by ATF using an undercover agent to make a purchase of (2) unregistered handguns, and two(2) full auto 9mm British Sten guns. This was the basis for the search warrant and arrest warrant for Darryl and his shop.

[DVUSWAZ]

Interesting.

You know, there's a member - here or arfcom, I don't remember which - who goes by the name Whiting, and is LE somewhere in central CA.

Same one?

True it is me - SgtWhiting

[DVUSWAZ]

Bingo!

As I was tell Ten (Wes) On poorly fitted safety install on poorly gunsmithed .45's, this can happen, I have seen it many times in the past when I carried .45's. This was true on darryl's gun.

[metalhead357]

I will also add that the investigation was done soley by ATF using an undercover agent to make a purchase of.......(2) full auto 9mm British Sten guns. This was the basis for the search warrant and arrest warrant for Darryl and his shop.

Ever the more interesting...... same time period(s) of the allegations of ATF shaving a 1/4" off a now rather infamous shotgun that got another & his family in deep do-do. Anyone know what happened to these alleged purchased said full auto guns?

[DVUSWAZ]

Ever the more interesting...... same time period(s) of the allegations of ATF shaving a 1/4" off a now rather infamous shotgun that got another & his family in deep do-do. Anyone know what happened to these alleged purchased said full auto guns?

When ATF purchased them from Darryl, I'm sure they booked them into their property room, wherever that may be.

As for the guns seized in the raid at Darryl's, there was a list floating around the internet showing the actual return of search warrant and the guns, grenades, and other items they seized. It was a comprehensive list.

[E Pluribus Unum]

Thank you for that; It is always better to hear it from the horse's mouth.

Before I met Daryl I had never even shot a gun outside of boy scouts. He was one of the ones that introduced me to the shooting sports; and to my conservative views on government and constitutional law.

I agreed with a lot of what he said. I do believe that the constitution supersedes state law and that the second amendment protects a citizen's right to purchase and or manufacture fully automatic weapons and any state law that prohibits it is unconstitutional. That is where my agreement ends.

I am not willing to break the law and risk my future for mere principal. I keep all of my weapons fully legal at all times because I hate jail and I love guns.
At the time that state law prohibits me from enjoying my hobby I will move to a better state.


P.S.
Welcome to the site... stick around for a while...

Here is what I have to say about it:

Darryl was a friend to me and many many others, including people who needed a place to stay. He was also friends with the Sheriff's Deputies and Taft Police Officers who regularly came into his shop and purchased guns, ammo etc etc. I also purchased many firearms from Darryl, including my AR-15 I currently carry here at the Taft PD. We all miss Darryl, he was a good guy, no doubt about it.


Here is the actual story, Darryl did not run away into the building, we were standing just in front of his counter when he broke free and ran behind the counter and grabbed a loaded .45 auto. (I was in the process of searching him for weapons.) ATF Agent grabs Darryl and I assist, but it was too late, Darryl and the agent fight over the gun in a very narrow very confined area. Darryl and I are both big boys and add to that the ATF agent and one can see there ain't much room to move around. The ATF agent has his hand on Darryl's .45 and so does Darryl, and they are fighting to control it. They have their backs to me. I have my gun out to protect the agent when a shot rings out. The agent fall off to the left over the counter as though he is shot, and Darryl is still standing up in front of me. I cannot see who is immediately shot and I am not going to let anyone else get shot by Darryl and his .45, so I shot Darryl 3 times with my Glock 22. The third shot I actually touched Darryl and he fell down. What I did not immediately know was that Darryl got his gun into his mouth (I was directly behind him and could not see this) and pulled the trigger. Sadly, Darryl was dead in an instant and his body did not know enough to fall down. When I touched him with the muzzle of my glock is when he fell down. The mass of .40 caliber bullets is not, and never has been, enough to knock any person down. All that is movie crap. Had the angle been just a little less, the bullet would have missed the base of his skull and travelled out the back of his neck and into my face. But by the grace of God we all go, even cops.

By the way, the Senior ATF Agent that first grabbed Darryl that fateful day, retired just after the incident with hearing loss in his right ear due to close proximety he was to the .45 when that first shot rang out.

As for the part aboput no illegal guns were found in Darryl's shop, this is untrue. An unregistered AK-47 type rifle was secreted into the counter which was full auto. An MAK-90 on bi-pod, also modified to shoot full auto was in a window over looking the counter we all did business at. It was locked and loaded with a Beta-C mag and 2 additional loaded Beta-C's right next to it. Any of you ever been into Darryl's shop, you would have never known the MAK-90 was there, but it was. You see Darryl keep a very large Confederate Flag posted on the wall in front of the window. His nickname was "Rebel", for those who remember Darryl, and the flag. That flag covered the window, are what I will tell you is really a machine gun nest of sorts. That same wall is backed by 2 liter Dr. Pepper bottles, filled with water, 3 deep, floor to ceiling, the entire width of the interior wall. Darryl lived in a room behind his shop and on his work bench was spools of Det chord and grenades is various states of being remanufactured. A .45 auto and one spare magazine were in every part of his room always within 6-7 feet of him at all times. (including his shower area) (Total of 8 additonal .45's.)

I think it is safe to say Darryl had a seige mentality.

Had we used a SWAT team to make entry, instead of the "Hi how are you, how is business today, low key approach we tried, I think there would have been a lot of dead SWAT cops. For what it is worth, Darryl's gun shop was only one of a total of 5 places they hit that day, the rest were hit with SWAT teams, Darryl's was the only one that wasn't. No one else was injured or killed and no other shots fired on the other four(4) places. I will tell all of you this, the reason I made the decision for a low key entry was so no one would get hurt, including Darryl. I liked Darryl. I just did not any reason to bust up his shop and embarrass him further. Make what you will of this, I will always carry with me this decision to make a low key approach as oppossed to a true SWAT high risk service.

As for the section marked "Rumors:"

True, all just rumors.

As for the shooting review board. The Chief and Capt. who held the review board would have hung my *** out to dry, legally and criminally, had I not done the right thing for the right reasons. It is as simple as that. Their review was based on the investigation by the Kern County Sheriff's Dept. and the District Attorney's office.


Interesting part about the ATF Agents and covering for them if I did not know them. True I did not know the ATF's Agents. True, I would not cover for them and I know they would not cover for me. I also had to go through their own internal affairs investigation of their agents actions from some hard nosed IA FEDS from the Falls Church Office. I can assure you they would not have covered up anything they found. As for my shots, they would have been fatal. My shots took out both lungs, the heart, and his throat. (180 PMC Starfire mushroomed to 82 caliber, X 3, will do that.)

Here is the real story about what Darryl was doing. Darryl was ordering Sten gun parts, minus the receivers, from and through a source in Shotgun news. He made the receivers out of common muffler pipe. (I still have one in the armory we took off a bad guy) Remember, the Sten gun was made for a very low cost during WWII by the British, and even easier to copy. Darryl needed the money. Darryl was a big man, 350 pounds at about 5-5 tall. He also had a big heart, I mean that physically. At his first autopsy, of the total 3 that were done, they found his heart was enlarged 2 1/2 times, and Darryl knew this. His previous girlfriend told the ATF IA guys, on tape, that Darryl suspected he was being investigated as early as the week before we went to his place. He also told his girlfriend that if we tried to arrest him he would not go out the door with them and try to take some of us with him. He cited his own poor health to her asa basis for this reasoning. (This would have been a nice peice of info to have had at the raid briefing, but alas, it was not to be.)

As for the lawsuit, one was never filed. The family did retain an attorney firm and conducted their own independent investigation, which included two(2) additional autopsies. They declined to file. The family wanted an end to it, as did I. (3 months of coverage in the Bakersfield Californian is enough for anyone, I can assure you.)

As for full auto weapons, I am for them, and I use them in my line of work, and I fully and intentionally support the second amendment and all of you in doing so. And yes, I would love to be with any of you on the shooting range doing just that.

My closing: I am a rangemaster at the Taft PD and support Ten Percent Firearms, their owners and agents all alike. (I also seem to buy a lot of guns there to for some strange reason......Wes is a smooth talking salesman type, LOL.....I also fully support the 2A and all of you who want or need to carry firearms. Darryl made a criminal mistake, most likely because he needed the money. This did not make him an evil person. No one wished him harm, certainly not me. I sorry for the way it turned out, and will forever carry with me the question of "High Risk - Dynamic entry" versus "low key" approach we took.

Only God knows that answer for sure.

Sgt. Whiting - Taft PD