Within an hour the usually lightly traveled farm-to-market road through Shive, about 12 miles south of Hamilton, resembled an interstate highway. Department of Public Safety troopers, sheriff and police officers from every surrounding county and beyond and Texas Rangers converged on a farm house about a mile-and-a-half south of the normally quite and peaceful community of Shive.

Unfortunately, all the effort was too late for a Limestone County Deputy Sheriff, who was struck in the chest by a high-powered rifle bullet as he, two Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department officers and a Coryell County Sheriff’s Department officer tried to get a consent-to-search form signed at the home of Marshall Tallent.

Before the day was over, two more law enforcement officers were seriously wounded.  Sgt. Steve Davenport, 34, with the Limestone Sheriff’s Department was working with a Waco-based Heart of Texas Auto Theft Task Force. He, Coryell County Deputy Johnny Burks and Hamilton Sheriff’s Department investigators Jim Buster and Howard Westmoreland were attempting to search the property for stolen vehicles the task force had reason to believe were there.

Westmoreland told the Herald-News that the four officers were standing outside of the residence talking to Tallent’s wife at a side door of the home.  Westmoreland said he was explaining a consent to search form he was holding and believed Tallent’s wife was about to sign it. She had told the officers her husband had left and they did not see the pickup he was known to drive at the residence.

At that time the first shot rang out that struck Davenport in the chest.  Buster said the Coryell County deputy told him he thought Davenport may have seen Tallent in a barn in the rear of the home before he was hit. Buster said that Burks said it looked like Davenport was raising his arm to point at something in the direction of the barn when he was hit. Buster dove into the house, while Westmoreland ran for his car in the driveway. He was taking fire as he ran. He tripped on some turf and both he and Buster believe the fall may have saved his life.  Westmoreland continued to take fire at the car as he crawled along the far side of the vehicle to reach inside the front door for the radio to send out the call for help. He managed to get the call off, but at some point during the early moments of what turned out to be a long standoff, a bullet went through the front of the baseball-style cap he was wearing and out the side, narrowly missing his head. 

Burks had been standing near a large liveoak tree when the firing began and was able to take cover behind it. The three officers were stranded where they were for more than two-and-a-half hours.
Inside the rock house with Buster, were Tallent’s wife and young child.  The officers returned fire as they could through the afternoon, although they never actually saw Tallent.

Westmoreland was able to get a Mini-14 rifle from the car and placed numerous shots through the barn.
All of the shots believed to be fired by Tallent during the afternoon, following the initial shot that struck Davenport, were thought to be directed at Westmoreland behind the car. Buster surmised that it may have been because he was in the most exposed position.  It was later determined that Tallent was using a 25-06 caliber rifle with a 3x9 scope.

As soon as the first call came in that an officer was down, EMS personnel from Hamilton General Hospital responded. However, the exposed position of the wounded officer made it impossible for help to reach him during the early going.  The severity of his wound makes it questionable whether even immediate help could have saved him. Davenport is believed to be the first law enforcement officer killed in the line-of-duty in Hamilton County since the 1930s.

A Scott & White Hospital helicopter also landed near the scene within the first hour.
By 5:30 p.m. a small army of law enforcement officers, including snipers and swat team members were on hand. The officers were attempting to strengthen the perimeter they had established around the barn Tallent was still believed to be in.

DPS Trooper David Jones, 39, from Goldthwaite and Lampasas County Sheriff’s Deputy Bob Montgomery, 44, were maneuvering for position down a line of trees. They could not see the barn and therefore believed they were out of Tallent’s sight.  However, at some point, Tallent had also changed his position to a group of trees three to four hundred yards to the rear of the barn.  Tallent opened fire on the officers, striking Jones in the upper arm and striking Montgomery with a glancing shot to the rear of his head.

A DPS helicopter also reported firing coming from a group of trees at his time.  Shortly before this round of shooting an armored vehicle had arrived and it was used to quickly evacuate the two wounded officers to the command post in front of the house. From there they were taken by Hamilton ambulance the final ¾ to a mile to the awaiting Scott & White helicopter. Both men were taken by helicopter to Scott & White Hospital in Temple. As of Monday, they remained in the hospital but had been upgraded to fair condition. Scott & White had only recently acquired a helicopter with the capacity to transport two patients.

While the armored vehicle was extracting the two wounded officers, Hamilton DPS Trooper Steve Marks volunteered to join Hamilton County Sheriff Randy Murphree and other deputies in an attempt to rescue the wounded Limestone County deputy and the other stranded officers.  Because of the position he had been pinned in for nearly three hours, Westmoreland’s legs had become numb and he could not use them. Marks ran to Westmoreland’s assistance.

In a letter to the DPS authorities, Chief Deputy Sheriff from Hamilton, Johnny Slough recommended commendations for Trooper Marks. Slough wrote, “As we got to the residence, Trooper Marks without regard to his own personal safety ran to the aid of Deputy Westmorland who was unable to walk at that time.” Slough said, “Trooper Marks, as well as others with this and many other departments deserve commendations for going above and beyond the call of duty.”  The officers were successful in evacuating all four of the officers who were the first at the scene. However, attempts to revive Sgt. Davenport were unsuccessful.

The officer’s vigil continued through the night. Three DPS helicopters participated using searchlights and infrared equipment to look for Tallent.  The community of Hamilton also responded to the situation. Numerous individuals and businesses donated and delivered water, cold drinks, fruit, sandwiches and other supplies to the law enforcement officers. Tallent’s body was located about 9 a.m. Friday in the group of trees and brush that he is believed to have fired the shots that wounded the second two officers. It is believed that soon after injuring these officers, he turned the rifle on himself.

Tallent, 34, had twice served time in the Texas penitentiary, but had never been known to be involved in a violent crime. He was a life-long Hamilton resident and graduated from Hamilton High School in 1986.
Hamilton law enforcement officers, including Murphree, Westmoreland, Buster and Slough, joined hundreds of other law enforcement officers from all over the state at Davenport’s funeral Monday in Teague.

Several thousand dollars worth of equipment believed to be stolen have been removed from the Tallent property and other pieces of equipment, also believed to be stolen have been recovered in other counties.  The task force is continuing its investigation and charges are expected to be filed against individuals involved in what is suspected to be a theft-ring.

Used with permission from Kenneth Miller, Editor, The Hamilton Herald-News