Other observations and evidence recovered and/or noted at the scene and during the vehicle examination were that there were five bullet holes in the Plexiglas shield supposedly in place to protect the police officer. Six spent .380 hulls and were recovered from the rear area of the police car as well as a Bersa .380 automatic weapon.
From the evidence recovered, as well as from a statement provided by the second robbery suspect, the following was believed to have been the chain of events leading up to this tragedy:
Somehow, during the original pat down and cursory searches conducted at the robbery scene, Edgar Tamayo had managed to secrete a semi-automatic .380 pistol on his person. After leaving the scene with both suspects, Officer Gaddis stopped to make a telephone call, believed to have been to confer with the District Attorney's Intake Office over charges he intended to file on both suspects. During this phone call while Tamayo and Mendoza were alone, but in the sight of Officer Gaddis, according to Mendoza, Tamayo spoke of shooting his way out of this situation. He was able to get the pistol in his handcuffed hands behind his back.
When Officer Gaddis drove south on Chimney Rock in the block north of Holly, Tamayo was able to turn himself around in the rear seat and place the pistol right up against the Plexiglas barrier and fire it six times.
The actions of Tamayo rendered Officer Gaddis totally disabled and the police car careened out of control. It crossed a residential yard on the northeast corner of Chimney Rock and Holly, then crossed Holly, and into the yard of the Clay family home. It crashed into the front door at a high rate of speed. The impact injured both Tamayo and Mendoza, but Tamayo was able to then kick out the window glass of the left rear door and escape.
Tamayo fled north on Chimney Rock, but HPD Officer O. R. Warren was southbound on Chimney Rock when he observed what had to have been his sight of a lifetime, a suspect running with his hands cuffed behind his back. Amazingly, this was the man who had just minutes before, murdered Officer Gaddis. The evidence was stronger by the minute: the handcuffs recovered from Tamayo bore Officer Guy Gaddis' employee number, 98834.
Edgar Tamayo, an experienced hardened criminal and also an illegal immigrant, had managed to beat the justice system of our great country by purchasing a weapon just days prior to this offense. The justifications in the minds of such people are just amazing.
Tamayo told Escalante that it was the officer's fault for not searching him properly. He said he was searched by two different officers and went on to say that he was angry, managed to get the gun, stood up in the back of the car and shot the officer. He had the gun on his right side when fired the pistol. Further, he said that he had just bought the gun Wal-Mart in Dallas. Mendoza told investigators that at one point Tamayo tried to dry fire his weapon without a bullet in the chamber, but was not able to do so. Tamayo said that it was difficult to do this while handcuffed, but he did it. He seemed proud of his actions.
