Who: Jesse James and Tennessee + Missouri at large. What: Death day activities. When: from 1:20pm Central Time on, on Saturday Where: Fifty miles outside of Memphis, Tennessee Notes: This starts as a local news story, becomes a national news story by the evening news
REPORTER #1
We're cutting now to a breaking story being covered by Chopper One about fifty miles outside Memphis. Jake, can you tell us what we're seeing here?
CHOPPER ONE
Hi, Mike. We've missed most of the action, and what we're seeing right now appears to be the aftermath of what the authorities are saying was a successful train heist.
REPORTER #1
A train heist?
CHOPPER ONE
I'm just as surprised as you are, and from what we're hearing on the scanners up here, the state police are as well. Down there we're seeing the Amtrak passenger train 'City of New Orleans' stopped on its tracks surrounded by squad cars and a SWAT team that arrived from Memphis about ten minutes ago. The police were called and the train was stopped when at approximately 1:20 this afternoon, a passenger on the train –who was masked-- revealed that he was carrying five firearms and demanded money and valuables from the passengers in his car. It took train operators fifteen minutes to realize what was going on and stop the train. By that point the suspect had made his way through three cars. The suspect pulled the emergency break after the driver had already started the process of breaking.
What's interesting about this Mike, is where the suspect pulled the break. This is where the story gets good—the train came to a stop about a quarter mile from what we're being told is Carver Farms. There were horses grazing in the fields and police say the suspect got away on horseback.
REPORTER #1
And by this you mean that the suspect got on a horse, bareback, and rode off?
CHOPPER ONE
With at least three train cars worth of passenger cash and possibly jewelry, yes.
FEMALE EYEWITNESS #1
It was so weird. His face was covered with a red bandanna and he was using guns that seriously looked like they came out of some weird history movie. They didn't look like they'd actually work, but fuck if I was going to take any chances. I only had about a hundred and fifty on me, but I gave it to him and my earings.
FEMALE EYEWITNESS #2
I think he got through more than three cars, 'cause I was in 214, and just talked to someone else who was in 220. That's six away.
MALE EYEWITNESS #1
Have they talked to the off-duty cop who was on one of the cars? Where is he? He shot the guy through the chest. That [Blood] shit sprayed everywhere… but, [PAUSES], the guy didn't fall over. Didn't even wince. We all saw him get shot. It was a glock against a rusty pistol from the Civil War. He should've been dead.
FEMALE EYEWITNESS #3
I know, I know… I shouldn't have been carrying around six hundred in cash, but I'm on my way to Vegas for Spring Break, and I didn't know you could get guns onto trains. I'm writing my congressman.
MALE EYEWITNESS #2
Scared? No, I wasn't scared. He was actually [PAUSES] he was polite.
MALE EYEWITNESS #3
I didn't get a good look at his face, but while he was in my car it looked like he was talking to himself at some points. He would tilt his head and whisper to his side. No one was there—it definitely looked like he was working by himself. I heard a few of the names, um, shit…oh shit, what were they. Right, right, Dick, Robert, Cole, and Frank. I think he might have said 'Dick Little'? I d'know… do you think he was a schitzo?
FEMALE EYEWITNESS #4
No one in my car got hurt, but I think we were the last car he stopped in because he pulled the emergency break by my seat. He was really nice, like I never really thought he was gonna shoot me. He was bleeding in chest, but it didn't look like it was bothering him. It was still amazing though, the way he got away? Dude, he jumped bareback onto a horse holding three bags of cash and stuff and rode off. It was like a movie.
FEMALE EYEWITNESS #5
The only people he didn't take anything from were three soldiers. I don't know why. Maybe he was scared?
REPORTER #1
This daytime train robbery really has everyone talking, doesn't it, Rosanne?
REPORTER #2
No doubt, Max. It's been about four hours since the incident actually occurred, and unfortunately we haven't learned much since then.
At 1:20 this afternoon, Amtrak's the City of New Orleans was on its way from Fulton, Tennesee to Memphis when the suspect, who was already a passenger on the train, declared his intentions to rob the train's passengers and brandished up to five firearms which he'd brought onto the train strapped to holsters underneath his outerwear. Originally it was thought that he robbed only three cars, but up to six cars of passengers report seeing and/or being forced to hand over their belongings to him. At some point during the robbery the suspect was confronted by an off duty police officer carrying his firearm with him as he traveled to New Orleans. Eyewitness reports say that that the officer did shoot the suspect through the chest and we have confirmation of blood in the train cars to confirm this, but the suspect still managed to get away.
The suspect escaped on horseback with approximately six thousand dollars in cash and valuables. Police have no leads on an identity, but with the amount of DNA evidence left behind it shouldn't be long before an identity is found.
REPORTER #1
Just when you thought you'd heard everything. Were they able to track his escape route?
REPORTER #2
The police K9 unit tracked him into Missouri, but lost the trail somewhere around Poplar Bluff. You'd think a man on horseback would be hard to miss, wouldn't you?
REPORTER #1
Are there any details on the suspect at all?
REPORTER #2
We know that he's injured – shot through the chest—and we know that he is armed with at least five antique fire arms. We also know that he left an entire train of witnesses completely unharmed, which is good new for the police as there's a far greater chance that they'll be able to take him peacefully when they catch up with him. Eyewitnesses are describing him as both polite and potentially plagued with mental health issues. He had brown hair and blue or green eyes with a red bandanna covering the lower half of his face.
REPORTER #1
That's not much to go on at all.
REPORTER #2
No, it's not. I suspect this escape is going to have the state police scratching their heads for awhile.