There are a few incidents that have shaped modern gunfighting tactics. One, several shooters will point to is the Miami Shootout with the FBI. Another is the North Hollywood shootout. One that isn’t talked about too often is the Newhall Incident. At least it’s not talked about often anymore. Since we’ve moved to semi-auto handguns, the Newhall Incident is often forgotten.
For many, the lessons learned have been applied as necessary. I’ve found myself exploring the world of revolvers lately, and if you ever take that very interesting route, you’ll end up reading about the Newhall incident.
The Newhall Incident
What makes the Newhall Incident a piece of history in the gunfighting world is the fact that four police officers were outshot by two career criminals. This ended with four California Highway Patrol troopers dead before the day’s end. The Newhall incident became extremely well-known and helped shape and advance gunfighting in this era.
On April 5th, 1970, Jack Twinning and Bobby Davis were plotting to steal explosives for an armored car robbery. Davis dropped Twinning off to steal explosives and continued on Interstate Highway 5. Davis pulled an illegal U-turn and nearly collided with another driver. The two got into an argument, and Davis brandished a firearm. This caused innocent drivers to flee and call the police.
Two CHP officers, Walt Frago and Roger Gore, caught up to Davis’ car and observed a male passenger riding with him. They pursued, and two other officers, James Pence and George Alleyn, waited nearby to act as backup. Frago and Gore followed the men into a parking lot and ordered them out of the vehicle.
Davis complied and walked to the front of the car, followed by Gore, who began searching him. Frago carried the car’s shotgun at port arms and approached the passenger side of the car. As Frago approached, Twinning exited the car shooting. He hit Frago twice, killing him before he could even aim the shotgun.
Gore opened fire on Twinning and lost track of Davis. Twinning and Gore exchanged gunfire, and Davis took the opportunity to draw a Smith & Wesson Model 49 and fire two shots at Gore from point-blank range.
Pence and Alleyn
Pence and Alleyn arrived on the scene shortly after Gore had been killed. They were immediately under fire from Davis and Twinning. The two thugs emptied their handguns into the police cruiser. After emptying their weapons, they dove into their car and retrieved more weapons. Davis retrieved a sawn-off; pump action shotgun, and Twinning retrieved an M1911.
Twinning’s M1911 jammed after the first shot, so he retrieved another 1911 from the car and again began to fire. Alleyn fired his Remington 870 into the direction of the suspect vehicle. He fired every round as fast as he could, so fast he reportedly even ejected a live round from the gun. Only a single pellet struck Twinning, causing only a superficial wound.
After emptying his shotgun, Alleyn drew his S&W Model 19 and opened fire. Davis returned fire with his shotgun and caused life-ending injuries to Alleyn. Alleyn had failed to land a successful shot with his revolver. Pence engaged Twinning with his Colt Python but did not land any shots. As this occurred, a man named Gary Kness, who had served as a Marine, joined the fray.
The Reload
Gary initially tried to pull the wounded Alleyn to safety but was unable to move the wounded Patrolman. On the other side of the cruiser, Twinning had shot Pence in the chest and in both legs. Pence had run out of ammunition and was trying to reload his Colt Python while on the ground, wounded. At the time of the Newhall Incident, CHP troopers carried extra rounds in a dump pouch. Pence’s pouch dropped six rounds into his hand that he had to load one by one.
Davis abandoned his empty sawn-off shotgun and grabbed Frago’s unfired shotgun. He couldn’t figure out how to make it function and ended up negligently discharging the gun. He abandoned it and retrieved Frago’s service revolver.
As Pence loaded the last round into his Python, Twinning flanked him and shot him from behind at point-blank range, killing him. Kness was out of ammo and eventually fled to a ditch to take cover. Immediately after, a car full of CHP troopers arrived and exchanged gunfire with the two thugs. The two criminals eventually fled under the cover of darkness, electing to split up.
The End of The Newhall Incident
Davis eventually got into an altercation with an RV owner, and after a short exchange of gunfire, he pistol-whipped the man and stole his RV. A short time later, he was pulled over and surrendered to the CHP.
Twinning broke into a family’s home and took the family hostage. While negotiators tried to talk him down for hours, Twinning eventually killed himself after releasing his hostages. That ended the Newhall Incident.
The Myth
Part of the Newhall Story is a baseless myth that serves only to tarnish the perception of Officer James Pence’s actions. The myth is that James Pence was found with a pocketful of empty cartridges. The myth is often told that Pence was killed and couldn’t reload in time because he wasted time putting his empties into his pocket. This is often pointed out as a training flaw because the CHP taught troopers to “police” their brass into their pockets.
There is no evidence that this occurred. CHP Chief John Anderson specifically stated he found brass on the ground, not in Pence’s pocket. Part of the reason that this myth likely came to be is that the California Highway Patrol changed some of its training procedures after the incident. One of these changes was allowing troopers to eject the empties from the gun onto the ground. The real reason for this change was likely the advent of speed loaders and their replacement of dump pouches.
The use of speed loaders in training necessitated letting the empties hit the ground. CHP also likely stressed faster reloads in general and figured troopers could police their brass after the training was concluded.
Lessons Learned
In general, this is likely one of the pivotal events that changed police training to focus on speed. New ideas and strategies developed and further thought was put into the psychology of a gunfight.
This event is also used as an example of why situational awareness becomes so important in high-stress situations. Becoming overly focused (tunnel vision) cuts down on your ability to see the whole “battlefield”.
Modern techniques for reloads suggest holding the gun in front of your face so you can watch both your gun and potential threat as you reload and work on your weapon. This also demonstrates one of the weaknesses of revolvers that should be noted if you wish to carry one.
At that time, CHP trained their troopers to fire their revolvers in an Olympic or one-handed bulls-eye position. While that might work fine at the range, we do know that utilizing a two-handed grip provides the best control over your weapon. This and similar incidents helped promote a train-like-you-fight mentality, which revolutionized police and even civilian training.
Lessons Learned
The Newhall Incident was a tragedy, and four good men lost their lives. In the wake of such tragic events, the best thing to do is learn, grow, and evolve our training to meet the next threat. We have to learn from the past to keep it from happening again. Learning and evolving will allow us to improve our probabilities of survival and end gunfights with more optimal results.
