North State Voices: Remembering Inskip

During the year of 2010, I had the unique opportunity to write for the local newspaper (The Chico Enterprise Record). I used this as a chance to help people understand the impacts of working in the law enforcement have on those who step up to the challenge.

The next several posts are articles relating to law enforcement. I hope you enjoy.

James Dimmitt


REMEMBERING INSKIP

Remembering is a way of honoring. Remembering is a way of tying ourselves and our children to our history and our culture.

This 4th of July season is a time to remember those who gave so much to make us a free people. This season, I choose to remember two local men who gave their lives attempting to maintain the law and order so necessary in a free society.

It was a quiet, warm summer afternoon, perfect for a family trip to Barnes and Noble. I was working as a Deputy with the Butte County Sheriff’s Department. My work pager went off while we were in the children’s book section, indicating that there was a SWAT call out.

I called in and the dispatcher’s voice quietly said, “Larry Estes and Bill Hunter went into a cabin in Inskip and we can’t reach them.” “What?” was all I could reply, trying to wrap my mind around what she was saying. She repeated herself and I hung up the phone. “This can’t be happening again.”

It was July 26, 2001 and that phone call began one of the darkest nights of my life. After dropping my family off, I was transported along with the other members of the Sheriff’s Department Special Incident Response Team (S.I.R.T.) to the Inskip Inn via helicopter.

We were briefed, finding that the Magalia resident Deputy, Bill Hunter had been dispatched to a disturbance call involving firearms. Lieutenant Larry Estes, finishing up administrative work in the area responded to back the lone Deputy. The two made entry into the small red two-story cabin and had not responded since.

Our information was that the suspect was in the cabin, reportedly with an AK-47 and likely other firearms. Going into the cabin that night, everyone on S.I.R.T. truly believed that they were going to be shot, if not killed.

A rescue was devised after which there were a few minutes to make final preparations. One of my team mates caught my shoulder as I walked past. He held tight and would not let go. It was then that I realized that he was praying. Here in the middle of the road, my friend whom I’d never known to be particularly spiritual was calling to his Heavenly Father for us to make it through the night.

The entry was made and we found the worst had occurred. Our friends were dead, ambushed upon entering the tiny cabin. In an act of pure courage, Lieutenant Estes stood barrel to barrel with the suspect, exchanging gunfire. Both men found their mark.

Even now, I can close my eyes and see that awful scene. Somehow, with time I suppose, those visions have faded somewhat into the background of my mind.

There are five law enforcement Officers who have given their lives protecting our communities in Butte County. CHP Officer William R. McDaniel (1934), Chico Police Officer Carleton J. Bruce (1938), Deputy Randy E. Jennings (1997), Deputy Bill Hunter and Lieutenant Larry Estes (2001). These are the men who have given everything to protect our citizens.

Their names and the lives they lived should always be remembered. In your July 4th celebrations, would you spend some time telling your children their stories?

Teaching them that there are those who stood against all odds to keep us free.

Published May 2010 Chico Enterprise Record