Shootout
On the evening of April 5, Davis dropped Twinning off in the mountains to steal the explosives. At approximately 11:20 p.m. (UTC-8), Davis was driving northbound on Interstate 5 south of Gorman when he made an illegal U-turn across the highway median, nearly colliding with a southbound vehicle being driven by Ivory Jack Tidwell, a military serviceman en route to Port Hueneme with his wife in the passenger seat. Tidwell had a verbal argument with Davis and both stopped their vehicles, where Davis brandished a firearm. Tidwell managed to convince Davis that the CHP was in the area, which prompted Davis to drive away. The couple immediately drove to a phone and reported the incident complete with a description of Davis' vehicle to the CHP. Officers in the area were informed that the vehicle was wanted in connection with a misdemeanor, as the area – now a sprawling suburban area – was sparsely populated at the time, and hunting and shooting were allowed.
Several minutes later, CHP officers Walt Frago and Roger Gore, partners in the same patrol car, spotted the red Pontiac near Castaic and began following the vehicle. Officers James Pence and George Alleyn, partners in a second patrol car, waited in nearby Valencia ready to back up Frago and Gore. The suspect vehicle exited the freeway at Henry Mayo Drive, near the present-day site of Six Flags Magic Mountain, and pulled into a restaurant parking lot. Frago and Gore ordered the two occupants to exit their vehicle. Obeying the officer's orders, Davis exited the driver's seat and walked to the front hood of the vehicle where Gore proceeded to search him. Meanwhile, Frago approached the other side of the car carrying a shotgun at "port arms" with the stock against his hip and the barrel pointed in the air.
As Frago walked to the Pontiac, Twinning exited the passenger seat and opened fire with a Smith & Wesson Model 28 revolver. Before Frago could aim or fire his shotgun at Twinning, he was struck by two .357 Magnum rounds and killed. Gore immediately drew his service pistol and returned fire at Twinning, but in doing so lost track of Davis, who was right next to him. While Twinning and Gore exchanged gunfire, Davis pulled a .38 Special caliber Smith & Wesson Model 49 revolver out of his waistband and killed Gore with two shots at point blank range.
Shortly after Gore was killed, Alleyn and Pence arrived on the scene. Davis and Twinning immediately opened fire on them with their pistols, expending all their remaining rounds, and then dove back into their own car for new weapons. Davis pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, while Twining grabbed a semi-automatic Colt 1911 .45 ACP caliber pistol. After firing one shot, Twinning's 1911 jammed, but he simply grabbed another one out of the car and exited out the driver's side. As they did this, officer Alleyn emptied his Remington 870 shotgun at the Pontiac, firing the gun so fast he accidentally ejected a live round in the process. A single pellet from the shotgun struck Twinning in the forehead, but it did not penetrate his skull and only inflicted a minor wound.
After expending all his shotgun rounds, Alleyn opened fire on Davis with his .357 Magnum revolver, but did not make any hits. Davis returned fire with his sawed-off shotgun, striking Alleyn with several rounds of 00 buckshot and inflicting fatal injuries.
Read more about this topic: Newhall Massacre