Terror in the North Country by Trooper Ed Twohig (Page 3)

Terror in the North Country by Trooper Ed Twohig, Vermont State Police ( Page 3 )

New Hampshire State Police Car. As they approached, "Major" alerted to the hillside where the gunman waited in silence for the officers to enter his preselected ambush zone. Trooper Robinson's focus was shifted to the hillside and where he saw a man with an assault rifle. Trooper Robinson yelled for the group to take cover and alerted them to the gunman. As he did, the gunman fired on the group and the group returned fire. This initial barrage left three of the group wounded, two with life threatening injuries. U.S. Border Patrol Agent Pfeifer and New Hampshire Trooper Caulder were both wounded critically and New Hampshire Trooper Haase was wounded in the foot. It was later learned that due to the altered appearance of the gunman it was not until he began to fire at the group that they realized it was him.
     A 45-minute gun battle ensued and heavy suppression fire was used to protect the wounded officers. While the gun battle raged, the command post set up perimeter teams to make sure that the gunman would not be able to escape and a rescue team was assembled and prepared to rescue the wounded officers.
     U.S. Border Patrol Agents Stephen Brooks, Ben Batchelder, Martin Hewson Jr., along with New Hampshire Fish and Game Warden Sam Sprague were sent in to effect the rescue along with Essex Country Sheriff Amos Colby who managed to get away from the initial ambush and who was able to direct this rescue team to where the fire fight was going on.
     The rescue was effected and in the process, the gunman was shot and killed. Investigation revealed that the gunman had sustained multiple hits to

the soft body armor that he was wearing.

Interagency Cooperation

It should be noted that in total, approximately 80 police officers responded to the scene from many different agencies. From this initial car stop to the final gun battle, the incident took over three hours to play out. In that time, officers responded from great distances. In addition to the agencies already listed above, officers from the Caledonia County Sheriff's Department, Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles as both the Maine State Police and Massachusetts State Police responded to assist in the conclusion of this incident. The Vermont Air National Guard assisted with the assignment of one of their helicopters to accompany the New Hampshire State Police Helicopter on scene. The help of all of these officers was very much appreciated. The assistance of emergency medical personnel in this incident should not be overlooked. The professionalism and courage displayed by the Emergency Medical Technicians on scene from Stratford Ambulance and Colebrook Ambulance as well as Pittsburg Ambulance are to be commended. An additional thank you to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for dispatching their helicopter to the scene. This was sincerely appreciated and noted by the law enforcement community.
The individuals and groups listed above is not a complete list to be sure. In the confusion of the day, it is entirely possible that individuals and even entire organizations who contributed a great deal to the conclusion of this incident

have been inadvertently overlooked in this article. To those people who put their safety in jeopardy that day, thank you.

Tears, Drums and Bagpipes

In the days that followed, the town of Colebrook tried to overcome its shock and sorrow and bury its dead. On August 23, 1997 Troopers Lord and Phillips were honored in a memorial service held at the Colebrook Elementary School gymnasium. On August 22, 1997 the two Troopers were waked in the same location. Police officers from all over were in attendance over the two days, including Troopers from as far away as Alaska. Over 4000 Police Officers stood in the hot August sun on the 23rd to honor their fallen brothers. A huge contingent of Firemen from all over also came to pay their respects as Leslie Lord was the Pittsburg, New Hampshire Fire Chief. The funeral procession marched in from a staging area to the beat of the drums and wail of the bagpipes. The route of the march was lined with local townspeople there to also pay their respect to Troopers Phillips and Lord.
The community of the North Country showed its love and respect for their two Troopers over those days. The New Hampshire State Police Trooper's Association coordinated the complex logistics with much help from the local townspeople. The North Country only has so many hotel rooms and many Police Officers who traveled from afar were put up in the homes of private citizens. A tented reception area provided refreshments to the mourners after the service. A local resort hotel, The Balsams, provided much [ Page 4 ]