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Ruby Ridge standoff: A timeline

Federal authorities surrounded Randy Weaver’s mountaintop cabin in 1992 near Naples, Idaho, for 11 days following the shooting of a federal marshal.

Section:Picture story

Jan. 17, 1991: Randy Weaver is arrested by Boundary County Sheriff Bruce Whittaker and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for possessing a sawed-off shotgun. He is taken to Coeur d’Alene where, the next day, he is released because he has no prior criminal record.

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Randy Weaver, wife Vicki and three children Sara, Rachel and Samuel.

File photo Associated Press

Feb. 22, 1991: Weaver fails to show up for his trial in Moscow, Idaho, and a bench warrant is issued. Federal authorities say he and his family are heavily armed and holed up in his cabin, so surveillance is begun but no arrest is attempted.

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This is a government surveillance photo taken near the Randy Weaver cabin before the Ruby Ridge standoff.

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The is an aerial view of the cabin of Randy Weaver and his family on Ruby Ridge in North Idaho. Photo was taken March, 1992.

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Kevin Harris feeds his two-day-old son, Jade, in a 1990 family photo.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Aug. 21, 1992: Six federal marshals conducting surveillance on Randy Weaver’s cabin encounter the fugitive, his 14-year-old son Samuel and Kevin Harris. A gunbattle ensues and U.S. Deputy Marshal William Degan of Boston and Samuel Weaver are killed. In the cabin are Weaver, his wife, Vicki, three daughters and Harris Samuel’s body is cleaned and moved to an outbuilding.

Staff reports The Spokesman-Review

Fourteen-year-old Samuel Weaver is killed in a gunbattle between Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris and six federal marshals.

FIle photo Associated Press

Six federal marshals conducting surveillance on Randy Weaver’s cabin encounter the fugitive, his 14-year-old son Samuel and Kevin Harris. A gunbattle ensues and U.S. Deputy Marshal William Degan, left, of Boston and Samuel Weaver are killed.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Aug. 22, 1992: More than 100 state and federal authorities, equipped with helicopters and armored personnel carriers, pour into the woods, putting a perimeter around the cabin. More personnel arrive later. A protest line is set up near the roadblock by Weaver supporters.

Staff reports The Spokesman-Review

Angry neighbors stand with signs on the road leading to Randy Weaver’s cabin during the standoff in 1992.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Hundreds of state and federal authorities, equipped with helicopters and armored personnel carriers, pour into the woods, putting a perimeter around the cabin.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Bill Grider, who lives in the North Idaho area restrains his wife who is yelling at members of the government forces at the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Members of ATF stand guard at a roadblock as military vehicles bring in men and supplies during the 1992 standoff at Ruby Ridge in North Idaho.

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Aug. 22, 1992: Late in the day, Vicki Weaver is killed and Randy Weaver and Harris are wounded by an FBI sniper.

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Randy and Vicki Weaver wedding photo. Randy is wounded and Vicki is killed by an FBI sniper.

FIle photo The Spokesman-Review

Skinheads and locals hold hands and pray together during a vigil the night Vicki Weaver was killed.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Aug. 23, 1992: As FBI agents move closer to the Weaver cabin during the night, they discover Samuel Weaver’s body in an outbuilding.

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Johnny Bangarter shouts at officers as anger seeps from the woods while the parade of police, armored personnel carriers and helicopters mass near Randy Weaver’s cabin on the third day of the standoff.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

On day 3 at the Ruby Ridge standoff, anger toward the feds ran high as two neighbors scream at an official vehicle as it passes the roadblock.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Aug. 25, 1992: Five skinheads are arrested on a nearby road, apparently while attempting to reach Weaver’s cabin. The vehicle is loaded with weapons.

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Federal agents take five skinheads into custody after they try to enter the area around Weaver’s cabin with a jeep full of weapons.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

A protester is arrested by Bonners Ferry police at the Ruby Ridge roadblock. The protester had been taunting the police, along with about a dozen others when he got too close.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

Aug. 28, 1992: By nightfall, authorities accept Bo Gritz’s offer to talk with Weaver. He is driven in an armored vehicle to an area near the cabin, where he uses a bullhorn to talk with Weaver.

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Former Green Beret Bo Gritz tells supporters and reporters August 29, 1992 in Naples, ID., about his conversations earlier in the day with the people still inside the cabin of fugitive Randy Weaver.

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Aug. 31, 1992: Weaver and his daughters leave the cabin with Gritz. Weaver is arrested airlifted to Boise, treated at St. Luke’s Hospital and taken to the Ada County Jail.

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Interior of the Randy Weaver cabin on Ruby Ridge in North Idaho. Photo taken after the siege ended and the police had finished their investigation.

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This sign was placed on the Randy Weaver property after the Ruby Ridge standoff.

File photo The Spokesman-Review

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