The Antelope Canyon Hiking Disaster

Today we're starting in the infamous Antelope Canyon where a group of hikers walked into one of the most beautiful places on earth but halfway through several of them suddenly became convinced that they needed to leave right now. They couldn't really explain why they had this feeling but the people who stayed behind were about to find out. Then we're heading into a tiny town in New Hampshire where a four-year feud between a police officer and a local man ended with both of them dead and a third man standing at the scene holding both of their guns. Like what is that? If you've been enjoying the show please hit the follow button and consider leaving us a five-star review. It really helps with our standing with Spotify and with that said listen on if you dare. On a summer day in 1997, 10 French tourists hiked through the world-famous Antelope Canyon accompanied by an American guide. At first everything on this hike was going to plan but halfway in. something very strange happened. Five of the tourists began to feel this mysterious unexplainable dread like deep inside of them and it wasn't fear of tight spaces it wasn't nerves it was something deeper and so these five tourists made the decision to turn around and hike back out of the canyon and though they didn't know it yet that single choice would become the best and most important decision of their entire lives. You see folks all the way up to the top of the canyon on the other side of the canyon a hidden threat was brewing in silence. A threat that none of the tourists or their guide ever saw coming. Today I'm going to be telling you about Antelope Canyon which is known for being one of the most beautiful places on earth and I'm not exaggerating but with all that said this is the story of the darkest day in history of this famous canyon and there's a lot to unpack here including a pretty wild controversy that adds an entire new dimension to this story and so be sure to stick around until the end of the video to learn why even to this day this story is still incredibly relevant especially to one particular person. So Antelope Canyon is located on Navajo Nation land near the town of Page, Arizona and what makes this place so special are these giant sandstone walls that have been like sculpted by wind and water over millions of years. The hike goes through these small open-air passageways that let just enough sunlight in so it's not fully dark and it's kind of hard to describe this but I should just show you some pictures. When you put all that stuff together you get this and this and this. I mean doesn't that just look incredible? I mean based on those photos you can see why it's no wonder that a number of like pretty famous movies were actually shot in Antelope Canyon like Tree of Life or 127 Hours although the real story didn't actually happen there. But even before all these movies came out Antelope Canyon was actually shot in Antelope Canyon. So Antelope Canyon came out hundreds of thousands of people hundreds of thousands from all over the world were already coming to Arizona to hike through this insane canyon and today we're going to focus on a group of people with this very same hope. 10 French tourists had signed up for a tour of Antelope Canyon and they met their guide at the ticketing station which was run by the Navajo Nation. Their guide was 28 year old Francisco Pancho Quintana who was a construction worker from Los Angeles who also part-time was a construction worker for Antelope Canyon. So Antelope Canyon was a construction worker from Los Angeles who also part-timed as a guide for Trek America a company that specializes in taking European tourists on American adventures like this. Pancho had spent many years of his life hiking throughout the American Southwest and on top of that he had earned all the certificates and done all the training that you need to become a guide for Antelope Canyon and frankly he knew the canyon inside and out. He'd been through it tons of times before and if it sounds like I'm kind of gassing up Pancho here I'm actually not really trying to do that. And so I want to illustrate that Antelope Canyon isn't like this extreme hike. It's extremely beautiful but it's only about a mile long or say one and a half kilometers. It's like two hours of hiking at most and the terrain is actually pretty flat outside of a few wooden staircases and ladders that take you kind of deeper in. And as if this hike doesn't sound any easier on this particular summer day in 1997 the weather was literally perfect at the entrance of the canyon. Not a big deal but the hikers were feeling pretty good about their odds of snapping some pictures of those famous afternoon sunbeams and so they confidently headed into the lower Antelope Canyon following their guide Pancho. Now I almost wasn't going to include this right here but I have to note that there's actually some pretty big controversy around this point in the story even though we're just at the beginning pretty much. How do I explain this? Like it's one that will kind of linger on after the events of the day unfold but for the sake of building out what these hikers were truly experiencing like in the moment and experiencing that day and not to put any hindsight bias on this story I'm going to hold off on telling you the details of the controversy until I give you you know the full context of what actually happened. So the group of French hikers followed Pancho deeper into Antelope Canyon. As he did with his other tours Pancho would let the group stop you know take photos and he would explain the science and history behind the formation of the sandstone walls. And at this point Pancho also noticed that he had a few stragglers we'll call them kind of forming around him. You know these hikers who go into the canyon without a guide and then kind of just like eavesdrop into tours to try to get more information. On this particular day these stragglers were two Americans, a Swede, a Brit and then two more French tourists. And they would kind of join Pancho at times for his explanations and then kind of wander off into the canyon and do their own thing. But again this is normal like there was nothing out of the ordinary about this. And so about halfway into the hike Pancho's group was pretty deep into the narrows of Antelope Canyon. And by narrows I mean very very narrows which I know is not very good English but I think you get the point right. The narrows here can be as tight as three feet or about one meter wide with with towering walls reaching up to a hundred feet tall or thirty meters high. For some of you that probably sounds awesome and epic but for some of you that might sound pretty scary particularly if you get claustrophobic. And at this point some of Pancho's clients were starting to get very claustrophobic. And I know for a fact that there's some of you watching this right now probably not most of you but certainly some of you who think that this would probably sound like a nightmare to be like in the canyon like this. So as the hikers kept pushing through the the sketchy part of the hikers it was quite uneasy to put it mildly. And trying to be a responsible guide of course Pancho listened to the concerns of his group. Half of his tourists just had this like gut feeling that it was a bad idea to continue on. A feeling that some accounts say was not just related to the claustrophobia. Now maybe it was because of the language barrier between Pancho and the French hikers but I don't know apparently they they weren't only feeling like uncomfortable they were actually feeling something ominous. Like something bad was going to happen. If they didn't turn back right now. But Pancho had done this tour of Antelope Canyon many times before and nothing bad had ever happened to him. And so he was like trying to figure out what they could possibly be so nervous about. But remember it was literally perfect outside. It was clear blue skies. And the trail wasn't even that crowded by other tourists. And so Pancho tried to convince them to stay. You know telling them about how beautiful it was going to be if they went lower into the canyon. But ultimately five of the ten French hikers were beyond ready to leave at this point. And so with Pancho's permission they began their ascent back out of Antelope Canyon while Pancho and five other French hikers continued on along with those random other stragglers around them. Now I'm sure we've all had those friends who kind of want to bail on an adventure when there's literally no sign of danger. Maybe it's a little uncomfortable or they forgot a snack or something like that. But I'm sure they've all had those friends who kind of want to bail on an adventure and I don't know. I'd like to think that I'm usually in the camp of kind of just toughing it out or like it's worth it. But this story kind of makes me question that mentality a little bit. And frankly I think you're going to find the same thing for yourself. Because while everything was relatively chill around where Pancho and his group were, the story is really about what was happening on the other side of the canyon. 15 miles or about 24 kilometers away from where they were. Only a few minutes after those five French hikers turned around and left, Pancho felt something change. At first it was just an instinct that kind of made him freeze up a little bit. You know that feeling when like the hair on the back of your neck stands up but you're not really sure why. But then he realized that something had shifted in the air. It was wind which had been calm just a moment before. But now it had suddenly started to pick up a bit kind of blowing towards them from upstream. The rest of the group didn't catch on to this at first. You know they were still snapping photos of the canyon, having conversations in different languages, just enjoying what was truly a sunny gorgeous gorgeous day in this beautiful spot. But Pancho continued to pay attention to that wind. In fact he actually did more than that. He prayed that it would stop but not in his stomach tightened because that gust of wind became a constant breeze. And that's when he felt the very same ominous feeling that those other hikers who turned around had felt. Something bad and frankly it was now go time everyone had to run in this moment panic ensued remember these hikers were from all different parts of the world and poncho didn't have time to explain what he feared was happening but they all knew what go meant they all saw the urgency and so poncho started running in the opposite direction from where the wind was coming and all of the other hikers followed him he was their guide after all they were very deep into the canyon at this point having climbed several ladders and stairs to get all the way down to the bottom and as they ran through the narrow passageways poncho heard one of the tourists behind him say that it felt like they were in in an indiana jones movie but folks this was not a movie um this was as painfully real as things can possibly get so they're running through the canyon and then all of a sudden they turned a corner and saw off in the distance the ladders that would take them up to safety but at the very same time everything around them started to shake the dirt from the ground started to kind of jump and rattle the massive sandstone walls of the canyon were kind of like jolting left and right and that's when poncho heard a sound it was like the engine of a jet plane starting low and then getting louder and louder and poncho knew exactly what this was he even took a split second to kind of just take a breath because he along with all the other hikers were about to face something that is just so insane and i called it painfully real a second ago but in this moment it probably didn't even feel real coming directly at them was a giant wall of water like 30 feet wide by 11 feet deep or about nine meters wide by three meters deep just a massive massive wall of water and so yeah there's no getting out of the way of that they didn't have any time to react no time to get to the ladders or get up to safety pretty much in just a split second everyone had to find something to hold on to literally hold on to for dear life but remember they're in this narrow canyon and the walls were no help to them because they were just so smooth there was nothing to hold on to they tried and tried every man for himself but soon enough the inevitable disaster struck one by one hikers disappeared under the water poncho desperately pushed a few of the hikers onto this like small ledge kind of pinning himself against them to try and keep them above the water but i mean it was only a matter of time until that ledge started to become too slippery and meanwhile the other hikers were panicking in the rising water trying to stay afloat and fighting the current um and you know i blame them for doing this because this was truly fight or flight um but these pretty much drowning hikers were starting to pull onto poncho and the other few hikers who were on that ledge and unfortunately because the force of the river was so strong the hikers in the water were accidentally pulling the hikers off of the ledge and like down into the water with them as poncho sat on the ledge with one final female hiker watching in absolute horror at what was happening he felt her being pulled by a panicking hiker who was begging them to hold on um and poncho tried to hold on but he tried to hold on to her and to the person in the water they even locked eyes but unfortunately the situation was just hopeless and poncho realized that the inevitable had arrived it was time for all of them to be swept down the river now what happened next is most likely the worst few minutes of poncho's life um he was flung downstream at alarming speed he was pretty quickly blinded by all the sediment and mud you know getting into his eyes and the thrashing of the water was so strong that it literally stripped his clothing right off his back every few seconds he would bump into a rock or the side of the wall and because he wasn't clothed anymore this meant that the skin would just kind of rip right off of him it was like being in a human washing machine essentially but still and amazingly poncho was able to use whatever lessons he had learned from swift water training to not drown and to try to just slow himself down any way possible this meant trying to stay on his back and keeping his feet pointed downstream so every minute or so he would he would get like a precious breath of air before being submerged back under after four whole minutes of being thrown around in the nightmare sludge river poncho suddenly felt his hand kind of graze a rock he grabbed it and this collision turned his body into an eddy that was located behind a waterfall um in that eddy he was swirling around and around in the water you know basically just being ragdolled and at this point i mean he had almost given up like he was prepared to drown he couldn't see anything and he was in so much pain with open wounds all over his body uh bleeding and so poncho took one final breath and to his surprise for the first time since before the flood began he breathed a full mouthful of air right around the time that half of poncho's tourists had turned around a perfect storm had been brewing on the other side of the canyon heavy dark clouds started dumping rain right into the drainage system that feeds into antelope canyon and instead of moving through the area quickly like many storms do those clouds just kind of hung in the air right there just unleashing all this rain um and again this this happened miles away from where poncho and his group were at and so they couldn't see the clouds they had no idea of the danger that they were in hours after this flash flood a state trooper would end up finding poncho shivering on a perch on the outer part of the canyon um he was completely naked he was bleeding struggling to breathe and yet somehow he was still alive that swirling eddy that had almost been a death sentence had actually ended up shooting him out over a waterfall and then out of the grasp of the river he was thankful to be alive obviously as we all would be but as he was being taken to the hospital all he could think about was what had happened to the other hikers you know the people that he was guiding the people that he was in at least some sense responsible for i mean i hate to say it but the odds of even one person surviving something like this seemed so incredibly low um let alone everyone surviving and so poncho feared the absolute worst meanwhile the initial search and rescue efforts were starting back in the canyon and on the river but they did have to wait almost 24 hours for the water levels to kind of go back down to a safe place we'll say and after this happened the very next morning a body count started to come in nine bodies were recovered some were found in the canyon still while others were found washed miles downstream some of them all the way into lake powell which is the largest canyon in the world which is insane um and poncho was the only survivor and immediately after all of this information came out a media firestorm was ignited right away there was tons of international press particularly in france you know because seven of the 11 victims were french citizens one of the most tragic stories that came out in the media was was of these two young daughters their parents were a who had drowned during this tragedy and their kids were not only left you know orphaned now but but that particular day they were actually waiting in their motel room in arizona for their parents to return from this hike um that's just brutal right and on top of the death toll two people were actually still missing um they they their bodies hadn't been found and when the official search was called off people were pretty pissed we'll say um pretty pissed off at the people in charge i mean someone had to be held responsible for this someone had to be blamed it was way too tragic um and preventable not to have that happen right and so remember that controversy that i mentioned to you at the beginning of the video um it's now time to fill that missing piece in the navajo nation who if you remember um operates antelope canyon for lack of a better way to say it uh well they had what they believed was proof of of who was at fault here apparently a a ticket taker at the entrance of antelope canyon reported to the police that before poncho's group went into the canyon she had actually warned all of the hikers that day including poncho's group that going into the canyon wasn't recommended due to potential weather forecasts and she claims that while some groups decided to turn back poncho's group went in anyways now it's important to note here that trek america you know the company that hired poncho the company he worked for they denied wholeheartedly that this warning was ever given and yet this this claim must have sent poncho into a spiral i mean he was already racked with guilt you know not just survivors guilt which is very real but also we'll call it guides guilt i mean again he was the guide he was the one you know responsible for his clients you could say i'm not saying it was like all his fault or anything but i mean like he was in charge and so you can probably imagine how hard you know being blamed for their deaths would have hit him several months after all this happened a full investigation would come out and thankfully it would finally reveal the truth it said that when the rain started in the upper part of antelope canyon some tour guides had actually observed a tiny trickle of water coming through and they had closed it themselves and as it turns out there was indeed an official update given to poncho's group and to all the other hikers that day but that update was in all clear it said the weather was fine um poncho did not defy any orders now i doubt this gave him you know a lot of relief but at least it kind of took some of the heat off of him and at this point it was now on the navajo nation and local authorities to make sure that something like this never happened again and so right away advanced weather monitoring systems were put into place to kind of track flash flood risks hikers are now not only warned about floods but all tours are immediately canceled if there's even a possibility of a storm you know even if the sky is clear at the moment it also became a rule that anyone who went into the canyon had to have a licensed guide so basically no more stragglers and all of the the wooden ladders and stairs that had broken during the flood were replaced with much sturdier bolted in metal staircases all of these changes were obviously good for the safety of antelope canyon but none of it really helped poncho i mean the first five years uh five whole years after the tragedy were just so rough for him he was lost wondering why why he was the one chosen to survive and on the sixth anniversary of the flood he actually returned to antelope canyon and you might be asking why would he go back to the place that caused him all of this trauma and well it's because he went back to actually restart the canyon and he went back to the place that caused search efforts for the two missing hikers he said quote i'm still their guide i will find them and return them to their families so we can all rest at last and though this was a very noble effort um unfortunately they did not find those bodies actually to this day you know almost 30 years later they're still missing so this is almost needless to say but poncho he had to figure out a way to to heal from all of this in 2013 10 years after he was found he was found dead and he went back to antelope canyon to search for those missing bodies he came out with something really surprising actually and it was his debut novel it's called breathe for me and i i have to say it's a pretty amazing book um he goes into detail about the tragedy way more than i did but so much of the book is also about his past kind of leading up to it he talks a lot about growing up in an abusive household not being taught to help people as a kid and he he talked about how being a guy who was a person who was a person who was a person who was a person who died kind of restored parts of him and i think after all of this reflection he was finally able to answer the question of why he was the only one to survive but even if that doesn't sound interesting to you for some reason uh i really encourage you to read this book don't just watch this video but read the book before you truly judge any of his actions on this day um i really mean that because it's such a nuanced situation i've been doing my best but it's just so complicated and so i've linked the book in the description and again before you start typing out any mean comments or whatever i really think you should put your money where your mouth is and read the book and learn the full full story this has obviously been a tough one um even though i make these videos all the time until a lot of tough stories uh it never really gets any easier and that's the case here especially after the tragic floods that just happened in texas um just a few weeks ago as of the recording of this video i think both the texas tragedy and this particular story here from antelope canyon just show the the power of flash floods and how they really cannot be taken lightly um they can come out of absolute nowhere and so if you're ever going to be hiking in a canyon or anywhere for that matter especially somewhere remote remember to not just check your weather app but actually go online and look at real-time weather monitoring data in order to get a full idea of the full forecast for where you're going to be now speaking of those floods in texas since this story today was about a flash flood um and since the texas tragedy is so fresh in my mind i was actually in like the austin area when it happened my give back call out this week is going to be to the salvation army's disaster relief fund i've made a donation to them i encourage you to do the same even if it's just a few dollars it doesn't have to be anything crazy i've linked their fundraiser in the description so please check it out antelope canyon was a tragedy that seemingly came out of nowhere but our next story had been building for years and this time the final confrontation was caught on video but if you're listening audio only don't worry i'll describe everything that you need to know and so you don't actually have to see the video to understand it so buckle up folks this is a wild one come here i want you to look closely at what this police officer is doing his name is bruce mckay and his nickname is dr pepper seconds earlier mckay had used his police suv to force 24 year old lico kenny off the road mckay then stepped out walked up to the open driver's side window raised a can of pepper spray and sprayed lico directly in the face and then mckay did something that looking back is extremely difficult to watch he lowered the can and then turned his back and within moments both bruce mckay and lico kenny would be dead but somehow that's not even the strangest part of this story because when another officer arrived on scene a third man was standing near the wreckage and this man wasn't a cop he was a cop he hadn't been involved in the traffic stop but somehow he was holding bruce mckay's gun in one hand and lico kenny's gun in the other folks this was not some random traffic stop that suddenly went wrong this was the final confrontation in a small town feud that had been building for more than four years and i have the footage to prove it in 2007 franconia new hampshire only had around a thousand residents and the neighboring town of easton was even more rural now i've spent a lot of time in franconia over the years i absolutely love it there it's beautiful i was just there like a month ago a matter of fact and it's just so crazy to me that something like this could happen in such a peaceful small town so franconia is nestled right there in the white mountains of new hampshire kind of north central new hampshire it's very very rural and the towns up there are super small and in a place as small as franconia everyone knows everyone we all know towns like this right the officer that's writing the town speeding tickets might know your relatives and the person complaining about the officer writing those tickets probably knows them too this is the kind of town where once you develop a reputation almost everybody has a story about it that seems to confirm whatever they already believe and that would become a huge problem with bruce mckay and lico kenny because neither one of them had a simple reputation we'll say lico belonged to one of the families in the area they operated the tamarack tennis camp on a large piece of family land just outside of town and lico's cousin was actually olympic skier bode miller whose talent on the slopes transformed him into somewhat of a local celebrity lico's parents spent part of the year working on a coffee farm in hawaii and so his childhood moved between the islands and the mountains of new hampshire people close to lico described him as helpful outdoorsy and intensely independent he had grown up in an area with plenty of space to roam around and the land around tamarack wasn't just where he lived it was connected to his family identity bruce mckay on the other hand well he represented something very different he was one of only three full-time officers serving franconia and his supporters considered him knowledgeable and committed but he was also known for treating small violations with the same intensity that normal officers might reserve for much larger problems which is a very political way of saying that this dude in the eyes of a lot of locals anyways often went overboard when it came to enforcing the law and in a community that already valued being left alone bruce's approach was deeply unpopular with many residents in the town we'll say eight complaints appeared in his files although the details of these were mostly kept private a local man also sued him at one point apparently accusing bruce of using his separate role as a police prosecutor to pursue personal grudges and that lawsuit ended without either side admitting fault so who knows what really happened there stories about officer bruce mckay circulated everywhere and i'm not from franconia obviously i've spent a lot of time there but i'm definitely not a local however from what i've gathered specifically online in different forms and stuff like that there were a lot of people who did not like him residents recalled stories about cars being towed after a graduation celebration or an elderly woman allegedly being made to wait during a registration stop and even a man being threatened with a ticket for crossing the road on like a lawnmower and to be clear some of these stories were you know local recollections almost rumors if you will but together they created an image of an officer who never seemed willing to let any type of violation slide and speaking of local rumor Rumor has it that Bruce was so willing and eager to use his pepper spray that people around town gave him the nickname Dr. Pepper. But with all that said, Bruce McKay also had his defenders. His chief called him professional and dedicated. A local pastor who had interacted with Bruce over a noise complaint said that he had handled the situation well. And in other words, people weren't simply arguing about his personality from a distance. Different residents had dealt with the same exact officer and yet walked away believing they had met completely different men. And so when Lico Kenny and Bruce McKay first encountered each other in January of 2003, this late night argument became the first recorded chapter in a conflict that would follow them for four whole years and eventually divide the town. After both men were dead. The first encounter began in the parking lot of Fox Hill Park. It was laid out and Lico was alone inside his mother's car when all of a sudden McKay approached and requested his license. Lico wanted an explanation for this. He was parked in a public area and he challenged why McKay had the right to all of a sudden demand identification from him. As far as Lico was concerned, he hadn't done anything wrong. The conversation between the two of them grew heated. Almost immediately, Lico left his car, argued with McKay and then returned to the driver's seat and tried to flee. Bruce McKay then used his own vehicle to block Lico's exits. And that detail matters, by the way, because four years later, the two of them would end up in almost the exact same situation. McKay's larger vehicle would once again be facing Lico's car, leaving him with nowhere to go. But on this first night, Lico eventually backed away. He continued arguing as McKay summoned assistance from other officers and three officers eventually arrived, giving them now four people to deal with one increasingly combative young man. McKay also apparently brandished his pepper spray, although the supplied documents don't clearly establish if he actually like discharged it during this encounter. I tried to find out, but I just couldn't get that answer. So my hunch is probably not, but not 100% sure. McKay's dash cam. Did record this confrontation, but it didn't capture the entire like physical struggle. The officers moved Lico beyond the clearest view of the lens before eventually forcing him down in the snow. And that's just the best way I can describe it, because the full story of what happened on this night would go on to be disputed for literal years. The police reports describe Lico fighting their attempts to restrain him and trying repeatedly to like get away. During the struggle, McKay said that Lico grabbed and squeezed his groin. Kind of strange. McKay, for his part, struck the side of Lico's face to kind of like break the grip. According to the official account, McKay and three other officers did eventually subdue Lico. And once again, that is important context when evaluating the force that they used. But it also meant that the most violent portion of this. Conflict happened in a cluster of bodies that the camera couldn't clearly document. However, the same thing couldn't be said for the audio because the audio captured something far more disturbing. And that would be Lico's voice crying out that the officers are, quote, torturing him. Somebody please. Oh, please help me. I'm being tortured by police officers in the woods. Somebody call the police, please. Somebody help. Help me. I'm being abused. Lico was taken to the hospital and he was later charged with resisting arrest and assaulting Bruce. And Lico's family claimed that the officer had actually broken Lico's jaw. But authorities denied that. And the hospital evaluation cited swelling around his jaw without identifying a fracture, at least as far as I'm aware. And you have to understand about this entire story. Like, I did my research here. We always do our research. But so much of this. Is just like small town back and forth disputed facts. And so I'm really trying to remain neutral. Just just bear with me, please. And a great example of that, actually, is that even though most of this conflict was captured on camera, it still produced two completely incompatible stories. One side saw four police officers struggling with someone who is actively fighting them. And then the other side saw a young man disappearing beyond the camera's view and then emerging in handcuffs on his way. To the hospital. Bruce McKay would later support a lenient outcome for Lico, at least according to the county attorney. And Lico actually avoided a potentially longer prison sentence and received 15 days with credit for any time already served. But leniency did not mean that the encounter had been resolved. We can't know exactly what either man carried away from this incident, but it's possible that the very same video recording gave each of them a reason. To view the other as dangerous while giving people around town evidence to defend, you know, whichever version they already believed. It would be easy to hear Lico Kenny screaming torture on that recording and decide that he was innocent right then and there. But that would mean ignoring what had been happening three weeks before he ever met Bruce McKay. So at the beginning of 2003, a family dispute over where Lico could ride his ATV would escalate when he used. A chainsaw to bring down a large tree that struck his uncle's house while his aunt was inside of it. And when she came outside and began taking pictures, she said that Lico grabbed her and chased her towards another family home. She would later obtain a restraining order, which required Lico to remain at least 100 feet away from her and off the portion of the property that was claimed by his uncle. And then, like clockwork later that spring, the uncle called the police again. After finding Lico on the disputed trail once again, and apparently Bruce McKay was among the responding officers who found a blowgun and steel darts attached to Lico's ATV, which was a violation of his release conditions. And so Lico was placed under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor, but he ended up cutting it off because of course he did, leading to another 15 days in jail. Meanwhile. People around Tamarack said that Bruce McKay kept appearing near the family property like a little bit creepy, you know, apparently he would pass through and then turn near Lico's home and sometimes direct his bright headlights towards the property. And look, my sources don't establish why McKay made those trips, and there definitely could have been an innocent explanation. It's not like Franconia is very big, and when you're just doing your rounds, you could probably inevitably hit the whole town in one night. So maybe that's all it was, but given the history between Bruce and Lico, people close to Lico believed that Bruce was keeping pressure on him. In fact, one of Lico's uncles said that Lico began carrying a gun specifically because he feared another encounter with Bruce McKay. Allegedly, Lico would keep this firearm beneath his pillow, and people also recalled him using it recklessly at parties, sending rounds into the sky just for the fun of it. And I don't know if this is true, it definitely could just be a rumor, but if it is true, clearly this was not, like, cautious self-protection on Lico's part. It was a lethal weapon being treated like a prop. But regardless of whether or not that's true, we do know that this next thing is true, and that is, in early 2007, Lico's gun disappeared. I gave you a lot of context on Bruce McKay's somewhat suspect background. Somewhat shady background, and I think it's important to give that same context on Lico's because, I don't know, from everything I've gathered, neither one of these dudes were, like, upstanding citizens, you could say. Anyways, Lico suspected one of his 15-year-old cousins of stealing the gun, a cousin who had recently been in his room, and he confronted the teenager, nearly strangling him during the fight, and even threatening to break his legs unless the gun was returned. Look, later on, the cousin did admit that he and a friend had entered Lico's room and stolen the pistol. And then four days after the gun disappeared, Lico reported it to state police, and then several days later, he called again to say it had been returned. And so he did get it back, but Lico was soon convicted of assault in April of 2007, and he was fined $250, which reinforced his belief that he was being punished after someone else had run him over. Even though his response had involved, like, serious violence against a child, Lico was clearly heading down a very dangerous road, and by the spring of 2007, even Lico's family was beginning to, like, be seriously worried about him. He had apparently withdrawn from his close friends and told his new employer that someone appeared to be following him, and he wasn't certain whether it was Bruce McKay or someone else, but his relatives. Instead, he described his encounters with bruce mckay as the main source of his issues lico was struggling increasingly isolated and still in possession of the gun at the center of his recent conviction and as for bruce mckay well again his history wasn't exactly looking very great either department records showed at least 24 reports documenting occasions when mckay had used some kind of force spaced out over roughly a decade and those incidents ranged from dealing with nuisance bears all the way to restraining people during arrests typical cop stuff right but the records also listed eight complaints against mckay and the dates complicate the picture the complaints were heavily concentrated near the beginning of mckay's career six arrived in 1997 followed by one in 1999 and then one in 2000 and of course the record included many controversial encounters where mckay used pepper spray dr pepper remember so for example bruce mckay used pepper spray during an incident involving two high school students and then in another case he sprayed a woman while arresting her following an intoxication and suspended registration dispute you know just classic dr pepper behavior and look i know obviously officers have to use pepper spray sometime and especially not knowing further details none of the incidents i just described you know automatically sound like bruce mckay was in the wrong but one thing i found interesting was that for reasons that aren't clear to me the report from lico's 2003 arrest was not included among the released use of force documents and so maybe he didn't use his pepper spray there but i don't know there was definitely at least some physical force i don't know i'm not a cop i don't know how these things work i give you all of that context to say this by may of 2007 there was no mystery about the danger that either bruce mckay or lico kenny could present the real mystery was what would happen if they ever met again and the answer to that question began with something almost painfully normal on may 11th 2007 lico left his shift at the agricultural supply store which was a new job that his friends said was going well for him riding home with him was his roommate and co-worker caleb mccauley it was a completely mundane night nothing out of the ordinary that is until lico saw bruce mckay's police vehicle coming from the other direction like all of us do when we see a cop coming up lico reduced his speed before their vehicles passed but despite doing this mckay turned around and activated his lights now the sources i found disagree on like the precise reason for this traffic stop some of the sources i found disagree on the precise reason for this traffic stop some of the sources i found disagree on like the precise reason for this traffic stop some of the sources i found disagree on like the precise reason for this traffic stop some of the sources i found disagree on like the precise reason for this traffic stop some of the sources called it speeding while others pointed to an expired registration either way nothing about the original violation suggested that both bruce and lico were only minutes away from dying when lico saw the lights he pulled over and bruce mckay approached the driver's side caleb the passenger later told investigators that mckay requested the usual documents without first explaining the reason for the stop and perhaps lico was a little bit frustrated and said that lico was a little bit frustrated and said that lico was a little bit frustrated and said that he refused to hand over his license and registration he refused to hand over his license and registration instead he demanded that another officer show up instead he demanded that another officer show up instead he demanded that another officer show up immediately according to caleb's account lico was immediately according to caleb's account lico was under the impression that the police department under the impression that the police department under the impression that the police department had previously agreed that he could avoid dealing had previously agreed that he could avoid dealing directly with bruce mckay and the exact directly with bruce mckay and the exact directly with bruce mckay and the exact terms of this reported agreement aren't terms of this reported agreement aren't terms of this reported agreement aren't the stop and so still sitting inside of the stop and so still sitting inside of the stop and so still sitting inside of his vehicle lico grabbed his phone to his vehicle lico grabbed his phone to his vehicle lico grabbed his phone to call for help three calls went call for help three calls went call for help three calls went unanswered and caleb later said that he unanswered and caleb later said that he unanswered and caleb later said that he had never seen anyone as frightened as had never seen anyone as frightened as had never seen anyone as frightened as lico was in this moment now you can argue lico was in this moment now you can argue lico was in this moment now you can argue about whether lico was in the right or in about whether lico was in the right or in about whether lico was in the right or in the wrong or whether he should have been the wrong or whether he should have been the wrong or whether he should have been frightened or not frightened but you frightened or not frightened but you frightened or not frightened but you cannot dispute that he was freaking cannot dispute that he was freaking cannot dispute that he was freaking scared of this dude he was very scared scared of this dude he was very scared scared of this dude he was very scared of bruce mckay and now he's on the side of bruce mckay and now he's on the side of bruce mckay and now he's on the side of the road with this guy he's so scared of the road with this guy he's so scared of the road with this guy he's so scared of standing right there at his window of standing right there at his window of standing right there at his window and of course you know bruce mckay being and of course you know bruce mckay being and of course you know bruce mckay being a police officer a police officer a police officer is armed and so without warning all of is armed and so without warning all of is armed and so without warning all of a sudden a sudden a sudden lico hit the gas he sped away and he lico hit the gas he sped away and he lico hit the gas he sped away and he told caleb that he wanted to reach his told caleb that he wanted to reach his told caleb that he wanted to reach his uncle's house where there would be you uncle's house where there would be you uncle's house where there would be you know people around witnesses around know people around witnesses around know people around witnesses around potentially more protection for him and potentially more protection for him and potentially more protection for him and from lico's point of view once again from lico's point of view once again from lico's point of view once again getting to family may have felt safer getting to family may have felt safer getting to family may have felt safer than remaining alone on the roadside than remaining alone on the roadside than remaining alone on the roadside with bruce mckay but legally of course with bruce mckay but legally of course with bruce mckay but legally of course lico had just fled a traffic stop lico had just fled a traffic stop lico had just fled a traffic stop against the officer's instructions and against the officer's instructions and against the officer's instructions and so predictably bruce mckay returned to so predictably bruce mckay returned to so predictably bruce mckay returned to his police vehicle and pursued lico his police vehicle and pursued lico his police vehicle and pursued lico with the siren activated now this with the siren activated now this with the siren activated now this traffic stop traffic stop traffic stop was not very far away from the kenny was not very far away from the kenny was not very far away from the kenny property property property but lico's old toyota couldn't stay ahead but lico's old toyota couldn't stay ahead but lico's old toyota couldn't stay ahead of the police suv for very long of the police suv for very long of the police suv for very long after roughly a mile and a half bruce after roughly a mile and a half bruce after roughly a mile and a half bruce mckay overtook him and used his suv to mckay overtook him and used his suv to mckay overtook him and used his suv to force lico to a stop mckay then turned force lico to a stop mckay then turned force lico to a stop mckay then turned his suv until it faced lico's toyota and his suv until it faced lico's toyota and his suv until it faced lico's toyota and he directed lico to move backwards he directed lico to move backwards he directed lico to move backwards towards an unpaved area near a barn and towards an unpaved area near a barn and towards an unpaved area near a barn and when lico obeyed this command mckay when lico obeyed this command mckay when lico obeyed this command mckay advanced made contact with lico's toyota advanced made contact with lico's toyota advanced made contact with lico's toyota and continued forcing it back a front and continued forcing it back a front and continued forcing it back a front end loader was parked behind lico and end loader was parked behind lico and end loader was parked behind lico and lico's toyota ended up trapped between lico's toyota ended up trapped between lico's toyota ended up trapped between this machine and mckay's suv and i want this machine and mckay's suv and i want this machine and mckay's suv and i want to be clear you know it's on video so to be clear you know it's on video so to be clear you know it's on video so the contact between the two vehicles was the contact between the two vehicles was the contact between the two vehicles was not like a single accidental bump bruce not like a single accidental bump bruce not like a single accidental bump bruce mckay moved the suv forward using its mckay moved the suv forward using its mckay moved the suv forward using its front end to drive lico's smaller front end to drive lico's smaller front end to drive lico's smaller vehicle backwards by roughly 20 feet vehicle backwards by roughly 20 feet vehicle backwards by roughly 20 feet lico could likely see the construction lico could likely see the construction lico could likely see the construction equipment closing in behind him while equipment closing in behind him while equipment closing in behind him while the police suv filled the space ahead he the police suv filled the space ahead he the police suv filled the space ahead he was essentially kind of trapped in there was essentially kind of trapped in there was essentially kind of trapped in there and so lico yelled for bruce mckay to and so lico yelled for bruce mckay to stop pushing his car and right around stop pushing his car and right around stop pushing his car and right around this time a chevrolet pickup approached this time a chevrolet pickup approached this time a chevrolet pickup approached and kind of paused near the and kind of paused near the and kind of paused near the confrontation and there were two people confrontation and there were two people confrontation and there were two people inside of this pickup a teenage driver inside of this pickup a teenage driver inside of this pickup a teenage driver and then an older passenger and look and then an older passenger and look and then an older passenger and look that might not really seem relevant that might not really seem relevant that might not really seem relevant right now but i really need you to right now but i really need you to right now but i really need you to remember this pickup truck we're going remember this pickup truck we're going remember this pickup truck we're going to be coming back to it to be coming back to it to be coming back to it very shortly so once bruce mckay had very shortly so once bruce mckay had very shortly so once bruce mckay had kind of kind of kind of pinned lico and caleb he left his suv pinned lico and caleb he left his suv pinned lico and caleb he left his suv and he approached the open window of and he approached the open window of and he approached the open window of lico's toyota and unlike their lico's toyota and unlike their lico's toyota and unlike their confrontation four years earlier this confrontation four years earlier this confrontation four years earlier this time there was going to be no time there was going to be no time there was going to be no prolonged roadside debates true to his prolonged roadside debates true to his prolonged roadside debates true to his dr pepper nickname bruce mckay dr pepper nickname bruce mckay dr pepper nickname bruce mckay discharged pepper spray directly into discharged pepper spray directly into discharged pepper spray directly into lico's face lico's face lico's face and then he turned around from the car and then he turned around from the car and then he turned around from the car and began walking back in the opposite and began walking back in the opposite and began walking back in the opposite direction while all of this was direction while all of this was direction while all of this was happening happening happening lico's pistol was down near the floor lico's pistol was down near the floor lico's pistol was down near the floor and so with his eyes still reeling from and so with his eyes still reeling from and so with his eyes still reeling from the pepper spray the pepper spray the pepper spray he grabbed the pistol he pointed it out he grabbed the pistol he pointed it out he grabbed the pistol he pointed it out the window and he fired multiple times the window and he fired multiple times the window and he fired multiple times right at bruce mckay's back the shots right at bruce mckay's back the shots right at bruce mckay's back the shots struck mckay in the arm and along his struck mckay in the arm and along his struck mckay in the arm and along his side side side he wasn't wearing his bulletproof vest he wasn't wearing his bulletproof vest he wasn't wearing his bulletproof vest during this mckay attempted to draw his during this mckay attempted to draw his during this mckay attempted to draw his service weapon service weapon service weapon you know as he moved back but it fell you know as he moved back but it fell you know as he moved back but it fell onto the roadside he was onto the roadside he was onto the roadside he was hit multiple times he was you know hit multiple times he was you know hit multiple times he was you know gravely injured and before mckay had a gravely injured and before mckay had a gravely injured and before mckay had a chance to do anything else chance to do anything else chance to do anything else lico drove forward and struck him lico drove forward and struck him lico drove forward and struck him lico then backed up and then accelerated lico then backed up and then accelerated towards mckay once again towards mckay once again towards mckay once again and ran him over and this is yet another and ran him over and this is yet another and ran him over and this is yet another point in the story where the evidence point in the story where the evidence point in the story where the evidence leaves room for two different leaves room for two different leaves room for two different interpretations uh caleb once again interpretations uh caleb once again interpretations uh caleb once again lico's passenger he believed that lico lico's passenger he believed that lico lico's passenger he believed that lico was trying to get away and didn't was trying to get away and didn't was trying to get away and didn't intentionally run over mckay however the intentionally run over mckay however the intentionally run over mckay however the official investigation found greater official investigation found greater official investigation found greater his actions and so we're only left with his actions and so we're only left with his actions and so we're only left with the physical actions that he took the physical actions that he took the physical actions that he took uh caleb's accounts and then of course uh caleb's accounts and then of course uh caleb's accounts and then of course the state's conclusion but now we need the state's conclusion but now we need the state's conclusion but now we need to go back to that chevrolet pickup to go back to that chevrolet pickup to go back to that chevrolet pickup truck the one that had paused nearby truck the one that had paused nearby truck the one that had paused nearby just before all of this started going just before all of this started going just before all of this started going down the teenager driving it was a down the teenager driving it was a down the teenager driving it was a person named gregory p floyd and the person named gregory p floyd and the person named gregory p floyd and the older passenger was his father gregory older passenger was his father gregory older passenger was his father gregory w floyd who was an easton resident who w floyd who was an easton resident who w floyd who was an easton resident who had actually served in the marines had actually served in the marines had actually served in the marines now the elder floyd stepped onto the now the elder floyd stepped onto the now the elder floyd stepped onto the road right after mckay had been shot road right after mckay had been shot road right after mckay had been shot and he picked up the service weapon that and he picked up the service weapon that and he picked up the service weapon that mckay had dropped and he kind of checked mckay had dropped and he kind of checked mckay had dropped and he kind of checked it to make sure it was ready to fire it to make sure it was ready to fire it to make sure it was ready to fire then he crossed toward the passenger then he crossed toward the passenger then he crossed toward the passenger side of lico's toyota now in this side of lico's toyota now in this side of lico's toyota now in this moment lico's handgun had like moment lico's handgun had like moment lico's handgun had like malfunctioned and he was attempting to malfunctioned and he was attempting to malfunctioned and he was attempting to kind of clear the jam and according to kind of clear the jam and according to kind of clear the jam and according to accounts supporting floyd's intervention accounts supporting floyd's intervention lico wouldn't put the pistol down even lico wouldn't put the pistol down even lico wouldn't put the pistol down even though floyd had kind of urged him to though floyd had kind of urged him to though floyd had kind of urged him to or even demanded ordered him to and so or even demanded ordered him to and so or even demanded ordered him to and so floyd floyd floyd fired mckay's weapon twice into the car fired mckay's weapon twice into the car fired mckay's weapon twice into the car hitting lico caleb for his part kind of hitting lico caleb for his part kind of hitting lico caleb for his part kind of folded down inside the passenger area as folded down inside the passenger area as folded down inside the passenger area as glass broke around him and the rounds glass broke around him and the rounds glass broke around him and the rounds passed dangerously close and when caleb passed dangerously close and when caleb passed dangerously close and when caleb looked up the gun that floyd senior was looked up the gun that floyd senior was looked up the gun that floyd senior was holding was now aimed right at him holding was now aimed right at him holding was now aimed right at him caleb later told investigators that caleb later told investigators that caleb later told investigators that floyd ordered him to take possession of floyd ordered him to take possession of floyd ordered him to take possession of lico's handgun but caleb didn't reach for it because he obviously feared that Floyd might fire at him now too, since he would have had the gun. And so eventually Floyd made Caleb exit the car and only then did Floyd attempt to help Bruce McKay removing his own shirts and using it in an effort to control the bleeding. He also grabbed Lico's pistol from the Toyota. And so now he had Bruce McKay's service weapon in one hand because he had just used it to kill Lico and he had Lico's gun in his other hand because he had just removed it from the car. The first officer to reach this insane scene came from nearby Sugar Hill. Officer Philip Blanchard then ordered Floyd several times to drop the guns before Floyd finally complied. And even then Floyd answered with a warning. Apparently he said, quote, easy son, I'm quicker than you. Emergency workers would soon raise the number. The medical personnel eventually took over, but McKay was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Lico remained inside of his Toyota as police began examining the scene. And of course he too was soon declared dead. Within a day, New Hampshire's attorney general announced that Floyd's actions appeared to be legally justified and the state ultimately cleared him. And the official reasoning was pretty straightforward. Floyd had encountered an armed man who had just shot a police officer, then driven over him, and now he wouldn't surrender his weapon. However, the state's decision answered only one part of the controversy. Investigators evaluated the two shootings and Floyd's use of deadly force, but state officials said that it was up to the town to evaluate McKay's handling of the pursuit and traffic stop. Oh, and then, um, Floyd himself soon became another source of questions. After the shooting, he apparently made two extraordinary claims. Uh, the first one being that Lico was the 43rd person he had killed. And then the second one being that he had done secret work for the government. And neither one of these claims has ever been verified as far as I'm aware, but there were even more legitimate documented concerns about Floyd's past. Floyd had felony drug convictions that prohibited him from legally possessing firearms. And during an earlier conflict with state troopers, he had apparently threatened to send his son for a gun and then made a comment about aiming where the trooper's body armor wouldn't protect them. He was convicted of attempted assault and received a prison sentence that remained suspended as long as he stayed out of trouble, which clearly he wasn't very good at. That earlier police confrontation began after a utility worker entered Floyd's property in 1997, and Floyd allegedly threatened to use his dog against this guy. And when troopers came to arrest Floyd, the situation became physical. The suspended sentence that followed was still hanging over his head when he encountered Lico and McKay almost 10 years later. Another interesting thing is that some members of Lico's family apparently suspected that Floyd might've been serving as like a informal backup for McKay, possibly following police activity with a scanner or something. And to be clear, there's no evidence of this that I'm aware of. Once again, this is probably just a small town rumor, but then seven months later, Floyd got into even more trouble. He and a neighbor met on a narrow road where one of them needed to back up so they could fit. And in court, apparently this neighbor said that Floyd threatened to use a gun. And when she told him that she believed he would in fact use it, he allegedly replied, and I wouldn't miss. Now, Floyd denied ever threatening his neighbor, but he was convicted. And after he threatened court officers following the verdict, his suspended sentence from the earlier attempted assault case was activated. He served time in prison and later told a parole board that he had become more emotionally stable. That neighbor remained afraid and of course, opposed his release while the board postponed its decision pending additional mental health and legal records. And look, none of that retroactively proves that Floyd was a criminal. He was a criminal. He was a criminal. He was a criminal. And that proves that Floyd acted unlawfully when he shot Lico. But his history helps explain why Lico's family and a lot of residents in Franconia were unwilling to accept the simple image of like a heroic passerby trying to save the wounded cop, right? Bruce McKay's death devastated his family, including his nine-year-old daughter. He was supposed to be married that upcoming July on Cannon Mountain, but instead, hundreds of officers and firefighters, traveled to Franconia to honor him after his death. Lico's family held a different kind of memorial on the Tamarack property. Hundreds attended despite some pretty bad weather. His parents had been working at their coffee farm in Hawaii when the shooting happened, and they returned to a community where their son was being described as both a cop killer on one hand and as a young man who had feared that same officer for years on the other hand. The argument became so, I don't know, like personal that a nearby town debated whether its fire department should even send vehicles to Bruce McKay's funeral. Apparently, a local official that was related to Lico's family opposed sending them. Franconia eventually formed a committee intended to help the community kind of reconcile, but no meeting could ever give either family back the person it had lost. And that brings us to the frustrating truth at the center of this story. The video footage tells us what happened, but still, everybody chooses a different moment for when the story actually begins. McKay's supporters can begin when Lico reached for the pistol and fired at an officer who had just turned his back and was defenseless. And Lico's supporters can begin seconds earlier when McKay trapped his vehicle and then pepper sprayed him through the window without warning. And of course, Floyd's supporters can begin when he saw an armed man shoot and then run over a police officer. And Floyd's critics can begin when he picked up a gun that wasn't his and fired through a window while Caleb was still in the passenger seat. Or of course, you can begin four years earlier with two cars blocking one another at Fox Hill Park and an argument continuing outside of the camera's view. Every one of these starting points is real, but none of them contain the whole story. Two men suffered fatal injuries because of what happened on that road, and a third was found there holding both guns, and a small town was left arguing about which frame of the footage should define everything that came before it. This is, without a doubt, the craziest small town drama that I've ever heard of. And it's also super, super tragic. I hate that it ended the way that it did. And please show respect for both of the families and the victims in the comments. And remember, neither one of their families is responsible for the decisions that was made by their loved ones.