What Happened During the Waco Massacre? How the Horror Unfolded in April 1993 and Left Nearly 80 Dead

Who Was David Koresh?

Koresh, a Houston native whose real name was Vernon Howell, came to Mount Carmel in the early '80s with an enduring fascination with the Bible that traced back to his boyhood.

By 1987, the dyslexic high school drop-out had taken over the Davidians. Koresh took power in the group following a struggle with the previous leader's son.

"He made the scriptures harmonize," Clive Doyle, a Branch Davidian, told PEOPLE of Koresh. "He made them come alive. I believe the spirit of God spoke through him."

David Thibodeau — who was at Mount Carmel during the siege and wrote A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story — added, "He was rational. He would listen to you, tell you how he saw things and was a fascinating individual."

Koresh's Teachings

Koresh claimed he could talk to God and unlock the Seven Seals in the Bible's Book of Revelation. He prophesized about Jesus Christ's second coming and that one day he and his followers would be attacked by the U.S. government.

"He had preached that forces of evil were coming to get them and they would all be killed in a fiery ending and come back as the chosen, and our actions sort of validated his prophecy among his followers," former FBI negotiator Byron Sage told PEOPLE.

Koresh's Supporters

The Branch Davidians who fell under Koresh's sway included people from the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K.

Group member Doyle, an Australian, revealed Koresh's followers were drawn to him because of the lessons he taught. 

"Some of them were hard to accept, but they learned that this guy spoke like no other prophet or no other preacher that we'd experienced in our whole lifetime," said Doyle.

From the outside, however, Koresh's appeal looked different.

"He was kind of a village idiot," McLennan County, Texas, Sheriff Parnell McNamara told PEOPLE. "I couldn't believe that people would look at that guy and want to follow him anywhere. He was the local goofball."

Koresh's Right-Hand Man

Steve Schneider was a graduate of religious studies at the University of Hawaii who acted as Koresh's music manager and during the 51-day standoff handled many of Koresh's negotiations with the FBI.

When Koresh told his flock that God told him to take all the women at Mount Carmel as his wives, Schneider's spouse, Judy, became one of them, giving birth to a daughter, who died along with Schneider, Judy and Koresh in the blaze.

"He was not a stupid man," Sage said about Schneider. "He was educated. He was articulate, but he didn't have an independence of thought or the ability to do anything without the blessing of David."

February 1993: A Raid Turns Deadly

On Feb. 28, 1993, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided the Branch Davidian's compound outside Waco after reports surfaced that Koresh had been sexually abusing minors and stockpiling weapons.

Four ATF agents and six members of the group were killed in the ensuing two-hour gun battle. Koresh sustained a gunshot wound to his side. A 51-day standoff followed.

The Siege Drags On

In the weeks-long stalemate between the Davidians and the government, 52 FBI negotiators had dozens of conversations with Koresh.

About Koresh, former FBI negotiator Sage said, "This guy was totally different than anyone that we had faced before, certainly than I ever faced. This whole thing was horribly unprecedented as far as the nature and scope, the dynamic and deadliness. The average length of a hostage situation in the United States is usually sometime around six to eight hours. This went for 51 days."

The Nation Watches

The standoff became daily newspaper and television fodder. News trucks lined the streets and enterprising citizens tried to make a fast buck. According to Sage, no one was happier about the TV time than Koresh himself.

"David was enamored with the fact that he had captured the world's attention and was on the cover of Newsweek and TIME Magazine," he said. "He was just relishing the notoriety."

The End Draws Near

During their impasse, the FBI used a variety of tactics to try to draw out the Branch Davidians from their compound, including blaring music in the middle of the night.

By mid-April, when negotiations with Koresh started to wane, tanks began to move in, ramming the compound, and military tear gas was deployed.

Soon afterward, the property went up in flames.

The Deadly Blaze

The truth of who started the fire on April 19, 1993, has been a major point of contention between authorities and the Branch Davidians.

The FBI maintains that the religious group's followers ignited three fires simultaneously, a finding reportedly agreed upon by outside investigators, though some survivors still point their fingers at federal agents.

Doyle, who was one of nine people to escape the compound fire while his daughter was killed, accused law enforcement of trying to pin the fire on him.

"They wanted scapegoats to blame for this incident," he said.

The Ruins

After the inferno swept through, Koresh and 74 other Davidians, including 25 children (some of whom Koresh had fathered), were found dead.

Koresh and some others had suffered fatal gunshot wounds. Sage, the former negotiator, said Koresh was shot once in "the center of his forehead."

Schneider, Koresh's lieutenant, was found nearby. He died from a gunshot to the palate. 

"Nobody knows how David died or who administered the coup de gras or anything like that. But I can tell you absolutely without hesitation that it was not us," Sage said.

The Aftermath

Koresh was 33 when he died on April 19, 1993, and his body was found among the rubble at the Mount Carmel compound.

Cult expert Rick Ross told PEOPLE that to this day, some of Koresh's followers remain loyal and await his resurrection, believing he was "truly a prophet even though he prophesized that when he died, the world would end and that the world would be judged and that it would be the end of time."

"That did not happen," Ross said. "His prophesies failed repeatedly. But people who sacrificed their families, their lives, for David Koresh have chosen to continue to believe and kind of support each other in this belief in order to move on. The alternative for them is that all their sacrifices were made for nothing."

Sheila Martin, a Koresh follower, said in 2017, "David came to give us a message and a hope. We hope to see him again. Our regret is only that we didn't serve God better."

The Church's New Leader

In 2018, 25 years after the tragedy at the Mount Carmel Center, a new branch of the Davidians controlled the site of the group's former compound outside Waco.

Their leader, Charles Pace, espoused conspiracy theories and told PEOPLE God chose him to "rebuild a purified church and community." He lives on the property with his wife and two adult children.

"God wants us to gather people that believe in the truth as it is in Christ," Pace said. Of the Davidians under Koresh, he continued, they thought he "was God. That was a cult."

The Return of the 'True Branch' Message?

Pace — whom Ross, the cult expert, described as a "relentless fundraiser" — said he moved back to the Texas property after the fire to spread the "true Branch" message.

This includes building a museum on the site dedicated to those who died and hawking videos of the Clintons' alleged connections to the "murder" at Waco.

Pace no longer holds regular church services.

Waco's Legacy

While to many Waco is synonymous with the deadly gunfight, siege and massive fire at the Branch Davidians' compound in 1993, local sheriff McNamara says the small town has been misunderstood.

"I was born here and grew up here and to have that goofball [Koresh] put such a black eye on such a wonderful place is really maddening to all of us," he told PEOPLE.

"We are home of Fixer Upper, one of the biggest TV shows in the country," McNamara added, calling Waco "beautiful."

Survivors said the memories of the standoff have not faded.

Sage, the former negotiator, said, "It's not like I haven’t lived this every day of my life since then."