Gun store owner Darryl Howell died instantly of a single gunshot wound
to the head, according to the official autopsy report.
The report cites the cause of death as “craniocerebral trauma due to
tight contact gunshot wound to mouth.” In other words, a gun was fired
into his mouth and the bullet entered his brain. More specifically, a
“large projectile” was fired through the roof of the mouth at a
45-degree angle. The bullet and three fragments “were retrieved from the
inner cranial cavity.”
There was no exit wound.
Howell, 45, died Oct. 7 during a mid-morning raid on his business,
the Alpha-Omega Surplus and Supplies store, located near Taft,
California — about 37 miles southwest of Bakersfield. The raid — a
joint effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Kern
County Sheriff’s Department — was part of a county-wide sweep of gun
dealers alleged to be selling illegal weapons.
In a related finding, a police shooting review board ruled Monday that
Taft police Sgt. Ed Whiting was “within policy” when he pumped three
slugs into Howell during the raid.
The autopsy report gives details of Whiting’s shots: a contact wound to
his right back, a shot to his right upper back and a shot to his right
lateral chest — all were between his waist and shoulder.
They have been ruled “justifiable” by the shooting review board. The
board was comprised solely of Taft Police Chief Bert Pumphrey and Taft
police Lt. Ken McMinn. Whiting, who had been on “administrative leave,”
has returned to duty.
Pumphrey did not return WorldNetDaily phone calls, and he has been
advised by city attorneys that he should restrict his comments due to
pending litigation initiated by Howell’s family.
Both reports essentially reaffirm the official scenario of the incident,
which has generated considerable skepticism from the public, especially
among Howell’s friends and relatives.
According to the official account, two unnamed BATF agents, senior
sheriff deputy Bob Bendle and officer Whiting entered the store about
10 a.m. As Bendle was trying to handcuff him, Howell — who weighs 315 pounds — broke away and ran behind the counter where he grabbed a loaded .45-caliber handgun. One of the BATF agents ended up on
that side of the counter where he grabbed hold of Howell. The agent
yelled “gun” and “don’t do it” as the two struggled for control of the
weapon — but Howell was able to put the barrel of the gun in his mouth
and fire. At that very instant, Whiting — who was looking away —
whirled about and drew his own gun and fired the three shots into
Howell’s body.
The autopsy report says that those three shots didn’t kill Howell,
because he was already dead. The report also says, however, that one of
those shots was fired close range — just an inch from the body.
Because of that finding and certain inconsistencies in the official
version of the incident, Harold Pease, professor of political science at
Taft College, continues to challenge that account and presses for a full
investigation. He detailed his concerns in a phone interview.
“To me it doesn’t matter if an autopsy shows the first bullet killed
him,” he said. “Whiting’s intention was to try and kill somebody. He
didn’t fire at the knee. He deliberately put three bullets into the
right side of Darryl’s back.
“It comes down to this: If you’ve got a grudge against a guy do you pull
the trigger a little faster than if you don’t? I think you do. Where was
the other ATF agent? He has a weapon; Bendle has a weapon — but nobody
is firing except this one cop, and he gets three shots off and nobody
else fires a single one.
“This is something that needs to be looked into,” Pease reiterated. “And
it needs to be looked into by someone who isn’t protecting the ATF and
the Taft PD.”
Pease augmented his remarks by rhetorically posing several questions
that have not been answered satisfactorily, and should be raised in any
investigation:
- “What was the Taft Police Department officer doing there?” Pease demanded. “Taft has no jurisdiction outside the city, and Darryl’s shop is definitely in the
county. It’s well-known that Whiting has a grudge against Darryl — why
didn’t he excuse himself? Why was he allowed to come along?” - “Why wasn’t the body removed for seven hours after the shooting?
That seems strange,” he observed. - WorldNetDaily has obtained copies of the search warrant and the
inventory of items taken. According to these, the search itself did not
commence until 4:50 in the afternoon. That raises the question of what was going on in the store for six-and-one-half hours following the shooting. - “Why wasn’t Darryl’s mother notified of the death of her son
until many hours later, until just before dark?” Pease asked.
WorldNetDaily has confirmed through a contact with the family that
Howell’s relatives were never formally notified of his death. His
mother, Eunice, waited at the police barracades the entire day, anxious
for some kind of word, knowing something drastic had happened, but not
told what — and all the time her son lay dead inside.
Finally, at about 7:30, as the officers were beginning to leave, she
asked if her son were dead. “Yes, I believe so, ma’am,” one of them
said.
That was the only word she was given. To this day the family has not
received official notification or condolence.
Like Pease, Steven Hess, a Taft resident and long-time close friend of
Howell’s, is also critical of the official account. Thursday Hess went
into the store to look at the room where the shooting occurred — a
room he had been in many times, but he felt he should check certain
things for himself.
“I think it would have been physically impossible for both the ATF agent
and Darryl to even fit behind the counter, let alone struggle there,” he
told WorldNetDaily. “And did you see in the autopsy report that one of
Whiting’s bullets was fired an inch away — close contact. Yet the
police review board said that was justifiable.”
“The whole thing is like a dead fish in the moonlight,” said Hess. “It’s
shiny, it looks pretty, but it stinks to high heaven.”
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WND Staff