Dispute Over Land Prompts 13-Hour Standoff Between a Family and Deputies; Two Officers Killed

AP via TBO ^ | December 9,2003 | Jeffrey Collins

[John W]

ABBEVILLE, S.C. (AP) - A father and son angered by a state plan to seize some of their land allegedly shot and killed an officer who went to the home, sparking a 13-hour standoff that ended in a "horrendous gunfight" in which another officer was killed, authorities and neighbors said. At least 100 officers surrounded the rural home of Arthur Bixby in western South Carolina on Monday. Bixby's wife then holed up in an apartment in town and threatened to shoot bystanders if her husband or son were injured; she was promptly arrested, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said.

It began Monday morning when a magistrate's officer went to the house in a rural part of the state to follow up on an incident from the previous week involving a dispute between Department of Transportation workers and someone from the house, officials said.

When the officer failed to return, two deputies went to the Bixby home looking for him.

What happened next is unclear, but the deputies called for help and law enforcement officials surrounded the home, and the standoff began.

Eleven hours later, officers unsuccessfully tried to storm the home and were shot at with powerful weapons, Stewart said.

"I've never seen so much force," Stewart said. None of the family members tried to negotiate with officers during the standoff.

"This was planned," Stewart said.

The gunfight lasted about 10 minutes and police fired tear gas inside the home. Bixby's son, 36-year-old Steven Bixby, surrendered. Two hours later, officers entered the home and arrested Arthur Bixby, who apparently was wounded in the gunfight. He was hospitalized and his condition was not available early Tuesday.

No formal charges had been filed as of early Tuesday.

At some point during the standoff, the Bixbys destroyed two remote control robots authorities sent into the house to figure out what was happening, Stewart said.

Inside the home, authorities found a dead deputy and what they described as anti-American literature and suicide notes. Similar material also was found inside the apartment in town where Bixby's wife was arrested. Authorities did not say whose apartment it was.

Stewart said the family had prepared for the standoff and fortified the house's doors to make it harder for police to break in.

Authorities identified the two dead officers as Danny Wilson and Donnie M. Ouzts.

Ouzts apparently had been shot from a distance with a rifle, state Public Safety spokesman Sid Gaulden said; Wilson was found inside the home. Authorities would not say which one first went to the house.

Gene Land, Bixby's neighbor who lives about a half-mile away, said Steven Bixby was angry because the state planned to take some of his land to widen the highway. The Bixbys had lived in the house for more than 10 years, Land said.

A dispute Thursday between state transportation workers and someone from the home on Highway 72 precipitated the incident, DOT spokesman Pete Poore said.

AP-ES-12-09-03 0519EST

[Slings and Arrows]

SC-WTF?! ping.

[Dallas59]

Take? Doesn't the State offer market value?

[CindyDawg]

What???? Nothing about gun control statistics, homeschooling, Christians, or SUVs here? Someone slipped up.

[Skywalk]

They did say "Anti-American" literature, which I read to be anti-GOVERNMENT(and maybe general books about the slide of America into tyranny.) I could see this happening if the state was going to take their land without compensation(MARKET compensation) or if they planned to take all their land(with/without compensation) but this was the wrong battle. They were just widening the highway. Seek compensation and take it. No one should die or go to jail for this particular eminent domain issue. Now, if they had succeeded in maryland in taking away people's land and homes so that private developers could "build up" the area---then all bets are off.

[countrydummy]

This is going to start happening more and more!

[CindyDawg]

Uh huh, but usually these people on the fringe are used immediately for agenda's of others.

[Renegade]

I'm shocked. ( NOT)

[sawyer]

I never take the first report on these things as right. Land taken by gov is a funny thing. Is it really going for the good of the many?Every back ground deal on this should be right in the open for the sun to shine on.

[countrydummy]

PING!

[Sir Gawain]

Maybe I'll come buy your house whether you want to sell it or not. We'll see how you like it.

[visualops]

A SLED attack vehicle moves into position beside the house with the gunman which is in the background, on the left. . SWAT officers can be seen beside another house to the right which was not involved in the shooting. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

One of two robots controlled by SLED rests beside a sheriff's car near the SWAT command. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

AT SWAT command law enforcement officers gather Monday afternoon. The van to the left is where officers are controlling the SLED robot which was on the front porch of the shooter's home. according to Sid Gaulden , PIO for public safety.

A sniper can be seen on the ground to the left, where Highway 72 is being widened across from the house where the shooting occured. Monday. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

Fire bombs go off as SWAT members storm the house on Highway 72 in Abbeville. STAFF photo by Owen Riley Jr.

[visualops]

Abbeville standoff ends with deputy, constable dead
Posted Tuesday, December 9, 2003 - 12:17 am
By April M. Silvaggio, Anna Brutzman and Owen Riley Jr.
STAFF WRITERS
asilvagg@greenvillenews.com


ABBEVILLE — Scores of law officers unleashed a barrage of gunfire and gas Monday night at a house in an effort to overwhelm two men after a deputy was taken hostage and a constable was fatally shot in the front yard earlier in the day.
Before midnight, two men inside the house had surrendered and were taken into custody, one of them wounded, authorities said.

Deputy Daniel Wilson was found dead inside the house, which authorities were searching for weapons and booby traps.

Donnie M. Ouzts, 63, who apparently had rushed to try to aid the deputy as the standoff began about 9 a.m., was shot to death about 25 yards from the front door of the residence, Abbeville County Coroner Ronnie Ashley said.

Abbeville County Sheriff Charles Goodwin said they had had no contact with Wilson since the beginning of the incident, which authorities said involved a dispute between the resident of the house and the highway department over a strip of land needed to widen the road.

Officers rushed the house about 8:30 p.m. A flash appeared in the front yard, flashlight beams waved in the smoke. The sound of rapid gunfire tore through the air.

Steve Bixby, in 30s, surrendered a short while later, authorities said.

Arthur Bixby, in his 70s, who was wounded, surrendered later after additional exchanges of gunfire, authorities said. He was being taken to a hospital.

No other injuries were reported, according to authorities, who said they faced semi-automatic, high-powered gunfire from inside the house.

Authorities said they also went to a nearby apartment complex, where relatives had threatened to open fire. Authorities said they took a relative into custody.

They said they seized anti-government literature.

The siege at the house occurred in a neighborhood of houses and businesses near the intersection of State 72 and Union Church Road, about 40 miles south of Greenville.

Officers standing next to patrol cars with blue lights flashing kept the public about 300 yards away. More than half a mile of State 72 was blocked off. The high-traffic road connects Abbeville to the Georgia state line.

Ouzts' body was recovered after a state trooper used his patrol cruiser as a shield to block any gunfire that might come from the house, said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Lance Cpl. Steve Sluder said when he arrived at the scene he could see the constable lying on the ground.

"I pretty much made a mad dash and grabbed him," he said.

Deputies tried to contact the gunmen by phone, but no one answered, Goodwin said. About 4 p.m., a deputy tried with a megaphone.

"We don't want anybody else to get hurt," the deputy said. "If you're alive, come to the door."

The State Law Enforcement Division's SWAT Team was requested shortly after 10 a.m., said SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson called "an active situation."

An estimated 200 officers from the Abbeville Police Department, the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office, the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office, SLED, the South Carolina Highway Patrol and the state Department of Natural Resources Division responded.

SLED brought in at least two robots, along with an armored vehicle.

Helicopters from several law enforcement agencies whirled overhead.

An autopsy was scheduled on Ouzts at Anderson Regional Medical Center to determine the exact cause of his death, Ashley said. Ouzts worked as a constable for Abbeville County Magistrate Tommy Ferguson.

Magistrate's constables are appointed by local magistrates to serve civil court papers. They have the same authority as a sheriff's deputy.

Staff writer Paul Alongi contributed to this article.
Tuesday

[ActionNewsBill]

Bump

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Anti-American literature? A copy of the Constitution?

[sauropod]

This story does not ring true to me.

Comments?

[Moby Grape]

They probably had the Libertarian Party membership forms

[Cultural Jihad]

Anti-American literature? A copy of the Constitution?

As if cold-blooded murderous kooks are pro-Constitution.

[sauropod]

"...maybe general books about the slide of America into tyranny."

Well, he!!, I've got some of those!

[sauropod]

Aren't you up kind of early?

... ducking ...

[Rebelbase]

"anti-American literature"

*That* is exactly what the JBT's would call your book.

[sauropod]

I'm glad i am not the only one that has picked up on that. Notice how in the one news article the literature is called "anti-American" and in the other "anti-Government."

IOW the Government is America.

[sauropod]

Rather bold statement considering we don't really know yet what happened.

How does it feel being a Gubbermint JBT shill?

[Cultural Jihad]

Bixby's wife then holed up in an apartment in town and threatened to shoot bystanders if her husband or son were injured; she was promptly arrested ...

Those statist curs! Don't they know that the Constimatushion clearly protects the right to commit cold-blooded murder?! Free Mumia Abu-Bixby now!

[sauropod]

"Those statist curs! Don't they know that the Constimatushion clearly protects the right to commit cold-blooded murder?! Free Mumia Abu-Bixby now!"

You're an idiot.

[AAABEST]

This story does not ring true to me. Comments?

It probably won't ever "ring true". It's very hard to get to the truth with incidents like this because everyone has a conflicting story to tell or an axe to grind.

[Cultural Jihad]

It probably won't ever "ring true". It's very hard to get to the truth with incidents like this...

There are no Grand Juries impaneled in South Carolina? What exactly doesn't ring true, that a family of kooks went over the deep end and committed murder over the widening of a road?

[MissAmericanPie]

Certainly not enough information in the article. When an article goes vague like this everything written should be taken with a grain of distrust.

From the pictures it looks like that highway project was going to within five foot of their front door. As also can be seen there was no reason to build a highway five feet from their front door when the photo's clearly show the opposite side of the highway has no homes for, what? A quarter mile? Looks like they had pleanty of room to build their highway without ruining the property on the only inhabited side of the street. I'd sure like to know what their anti-American literature was.

[countrydummy]

up kind of late.....have not been asleep yet! lol

[Cultural Jihad]

Speaking of not enough information, why would you be pronouncing engineering edicts based upon a photo?

[verity]

The Bixby's may not be playing with a "full deck."

[sauropod]

It doesn't take a degreed engineer (I have two) to determine how close the highway was coming to the house.

One of the photos shows what looks like a significant amount of land alteration on the opposite side of the highway.

We do not have the full story here.

[AAABEST]

I was just commenting on how hard it is to determine what happens in situations such as this, grand jury or not. No need to bust a vessel.

Hey...you're screeching at me again! I thought you were angry with me and didn't care to correspond any further.

[MissAmericanPie]

Two photo's, one showing the construction almost to the guys front door, the other showing the tons of vacant room on the opposite side of the street.

I'm guessing the home owner was pretty upset about the situation. He's probably not an engineer either.

[Cultural Jihad]

The Bixby's do not live in a community ruled by some foreign occupying colonial power, are not estranged from any institution of self-governance, are not disempowered and disenfranchised with no voice or legal recourse for the redress of grievances.

Perhaps Mao and some fringed nutcases like to preach that political power comes from the barrel of a gun, but self-governable Americans do not.

[sauropod]

Self-governable Americans should not have to contend with capricious eminent domain acts, which looks to me like what is going on here.

There is an awful lot of Gubbermint abuse of private property rights occurring right now in our country - if you care to look. Try fighting and winning a eminent domain case, just try.

[Cultural Jihad]

I'm guessing the home owner was pretty upset about the situation.

And this somehow justifies cold-blooded murder?

[sauropod]

"And this somehow justifies cold-blooded murder?"

Nobody on this thread said it did.

[Cultural Jihad]

No one told Mr. Bixby that he had to live in human society. He was free to purchase an island somewhere and be safe from the capricious demands of his neighbors.

[sauropod]

"No one told Mr. Bixby that he had to live in human society. He was free to purchase an island somewhere and be safe from the capricious demands of his neighbors."

Which was there first, his house or the highway expansion?

[AppyPappy]

Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophesy. This guy was a dangerous nut.

[Cultural Jihad]

In a perfect world, all the hills' contours would have conspired to allow for always-spacious roads, all builders from 80 years ago would have had the foresight and gift of prophesy to envision what the needs of future generations would be, and there would be no need to adjudicate the accommodations of others in a community. In a perfect world there would be no self-centered nutcases itching for any excuse to commit murder, too.

[hellinahandcart]

I'm reading and it doesn't seem to directly relate to a land dispute, but to something else.

It began Monday morning when a magistrate's officer went to the house in a rural part of the state to follow up on an incident from the previous week involving a dispute between Department of Transportation workers and someone from the house, officials said.

and A dispute Thursday between state transportation workers and someone from the home on Highway 72 precipitated the incident, DOT spokesman Pete Poore said.

They couldn't have been in the process of widening the road on Thursday, they don't have the land yet, right? If we ever get to hear more about the nature of this dispute, it might shed some light on what happened later. Or maybe not.

But I have to say it's looking to me like they were laying in wait for somebody with a badge to show up, ever since the incident (whatever it was) on Thursday. They took the deputy hostage when he showed up.

[ArneFufkin]

This is when the scumsucker element of FR emerge through the sewer holes.

[FITZ]

That's what I thought ---- the highway is practically running through his house now ---- they want to take his whole tiny front yard?

[Frapster]

As my father used to say: 'I'd rather tame a fanatic than raise the dead.'

[FITZ]

It's easy to say until they take your house. They're moving some poor, mostly older people out of their homes in the poorest side of town to build a school --- but most won't afford new houses. It's kind of hard when the house you're living in is worth about $20,000 but there are no other houses around for that.

[Cultural Jihad]

---- they want to take his whole tiny front yard?

And, and, and rub out the little flower garden! Oh, the botany!

[Wallace T.]

I'm no fan of excessive use of force by LEOs, or of arrogant government. Nor do I think we need to ask "how high" when Caesar asks us to jump. (FWIW, I believe some Christians stretch the meaning of Biblical passages like Romans 13 to advocate absolute nonresistance to state tyranny.)

Nevertheless, we have to recognize that it is impossible for societies to exist without public utilities such as roads, fire departments, telephone lines, etc. The U.S. Constitution permits Federal government "takings" of private property provided due process is followed and just compensation is offered. State constitutions generally have parallel provisions. Provided the South Carolina authorities followed the constitutional guidelines, they were justified in requiring that the family leave the premises.

[JudgemAll]

AntiAmerican litterature? Whether the perp was a racist, antigovernment illiterate type or did not wish to go to the courts to literate us about the situation, it is no reason for LE and the media to engage in such illiterate and racist behavior and cheap shots.