Editor's Note: Planning is essential, but seldom does the plan survive the first contact with the enemy -- as we see here. The armed offender in this case had already faced battle -- and he was here to offer battle on this day. This piece is offered for consideration of alternatives and not to cast aspersions on the participants.

Kahl Wanted Poster, Source: US Marshals Service

On February 13, 1983, the US Marshal for North Dakota, Ken Muir, and Deputy US Marshal Robert Cheshire were killed while attempting to serve an arrest warrant near Medina, North Dakota. Four other law enforcement officers were wounded in the gunbattle. Their opponents were members of a local Posse Comitatus group, one of whom was also gravely wounded in the encounter. Gordon Kahl was a tax protestor and member of a local Posse Comitatus group in North Dakota. A decorated veteran of WWII, Kahl was no stranger to combat. He had flown over 50 missions as a turret gunner on a B-25 and shot down 10 enemy planes. Having been radicalized concerning Federal tax policy, he had previously been convicted of tax evasion in Texas and was on parole. As a result of a parole violation, a Federal arrest warrant had been issued for him. Marshal Muir planned to take Kahl into custody after a tax protester meeting in Medina. The Medina Police Chief mandated that the arrest take place outside of town. A roadblock was set up about half a mile outside of town, manned by Marshal Muir, Deputy Marshal Carl Wigglesworth, and Medina Police Officer Steve Schnabel. Deputy Marshals Cheshire and James Hopson, along with Stutsman County Deputy Bradley Kapp maintained position in town to follow Kahl when he left the meeting.

US Marshal Ken Muir, Source: US Marshals Service

Kahl left the meeting accompanied by his wife Joan, his son Yorie, and several other tax protestors. They were in two vehicles. Immediately after leaving Medina, Gordon Kahl spotted the roadblock. Both vehicles pulled into the driveway of a home and started to turn around. Before they could head back to Medina, a Dodge Ramcharger pulled into position on the road to cut them off. In it were Deputies Cheshire, Hopson, and Kapp. The Deputies dismounted from their vehicle. Cheshire was armed with an AR-15, while Hopson and Kapp had shotguns. Following that, Gordon Kahl, Yorie Kahl, and Scott Faul dismounted from their vehicles. All were armed with Mini-14 rifles. A standoff began. The Kahls and Faul maneuvered into positions of cover around the vehicles. In response, Cheshire had Muir, Wigglesworth, and Officer Schnabel move up close to the standoff. Faul began backing toward the house and Wigglesworth moved to intercept him. All parties in the encounter except Muir were armed with rifles or shotguns. Most of the confrontation takes place at a range of only a few yards. The stage is set for a close range gunbattle with long guns. The results would be devastating. After approximately 10 minutes of maneuvering and back and forth shouting, a shot is fired. Deputy Cheshire is hit in the chest and badly wounded. Deputy Kapp shoots Yorie Kahl several times with his shotgun. Marshal Muir, an accomplished marksman with a revolver, also shoots Yorie but the .38 round is stopped by the .45 autoloader that Yorie carries in a shoulder holster. Gordon Kahl then shoots and kills Marshal Muir. Immediately afterward, Kahl shoots and wounds both Schnabel and Kapp. Hopson is felled when a piece of asphalt is kicked up by a ricochet and enters his ear and then brain.

Deputy US Marshal Robert Cheshire, Source: US Marshals Service

The injured Kapp is forced to retreat when Kahl advances on his position. Kahl then shoots the already mortally wounded Cheshire twice in the head with his Mini-14. After executing Cheshire, Kahl takes Schnabel's revolver and police car. The Medina Police Chief brings the local fire and rescue crew to treat the wounded. After the shootout, Kahl then drove the seriously injured Yorie to the local clinic where he was stabilized and evacuated to a hospital in a nearby city. Faul and Gordon Kahl used Officer Schnabel's stolen police vehicle to flee the area. Kahl left North Dakota and went to Arkansas. He was on the run for several months and the subject of a nationwide manhunt, wanted by both the US Marshals and the FBI. Kahl was involved in another shootout with Federal and local law enforcement officers in Arkansas the following June. It resulted in Kahl's death along with Lawrence County Sheriff Gene Matthews. Yorie Kahl recovered from his wounds and was tried, along with Scott Faul, for the murder of Deputy Cheshire. They were sentenced to life imprisonment. Their appeals have been exhausted. Both are scheduled to be released in 2023. For more detail about the Medina North Dakota Gunbattle and its aftermath, visit the Tactical Professor blog. Claude Werner is The Tactical Professor. He served in Airborne, Ranger, Special Forces and Mechanized Infantry units in the US Army as both an enlisted man and an officer. His military assignments include being a Special Forces A-Team Commander, Intelligence Officer, and Mechanized Infantry Company Commander. Well known in the shooting community, he was formerly the Chief Instructor of the elite Rogers Shooting School and has won six sanctioned IDPA Championships with snub nose revolvers. In his civilian career, he was Research Director of three commercial real estate firms and was the National Director of Real Estate Research for Deloitte & Touche LLP. His blog is the Tactical Professor.