Why can't authorities explain the presence of the fourth bullet fired during January's anti-government standoff at the Malheur Federal Wildlife Refuge in Oregon — a melee that ended in the death of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum — and was there a cover-up?
New details are now emerging that may help answer that mystery.
The Washington Post reports that an agent with the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team may have opened fire on Finicum after he crashed his truck into a snowbank, hitting his truck. As well, an Oregon State Police officer revealed that he saw copper rifle casings lying near where FBI agents were standing.
Photos and surveillance video taken at the scene have also revealed that the bullet that entered the truck's roof can be traced to a spot where an FBI Hostage Rescue Team was stationed. But the firing of the bullet was never reported.
The FBI has declined to comment because of the ongoing probe, The Post says.
The shooting occurred as Finicum and others left the Malheur refuge they had seized over an ongoing battle with the federal government to meet with a local sheriff. As Finicum left his truck after the crash, Oregon state troopers and FBI agents closed in. Two of the troopers killed him with three bullets.
But according to Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson, the FBI also fired at Finicum. One investigator described the discrepancy as "pretty mysterious."
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