ROUND ROCK, Texas — April 19th, 2023, marks the 30th anniversary of one of the deadliest days in Texas history. It was on that day in 1993 that more than 80 Branch Davidians died in a massive fire at their compound at Mt. Carmel, just outside of Waco.
The fire brought an end to a 51-day standoff between Branch Davidian members and federal law enforcement officers.
Round Rock resident Mike Capps was there for the entire siege. Today, Capps is the radio voice of the Round Rock Express, but in April 1993, he was a reporter for CNN.
He got the call to report to Waco to cover the story on his day off.
"I would have hoped we would have been there for 24 to 36 hours," Capps told KVUE. "After I talked with one of my FBI friends who explained to me what had transpired and how it got to be the way, it was – there was no doubt in my mind we were going to be there a while."
Capps covered the story for CNN from a makeshift studio in a travel trailer that was parked on a county road near the Mt. Carmel compound. He covered the day-to-day press conferences and used his sources to stay on top of the very latest in the negotiations between the Branch Davidians and federal authorities.
"It was always something going on. There was a news conference at 10:30. Then I'd go sit down with my FBI guys, and they would translate and give me more details that what was said during those news conferences," Capps said.
That was how things went for 50 days. Then, on the night of April 18, 1993, Capps was tipped off that something big was about to happen – something that would bring an end to the siege. A very horrific end.
Capps remembers that night well.
"I got a phone call about 11:30 the night before. It was one of my FBI buddies saying, 'You've got to get out here,'" he said.
Capps went live for CNN early on the morning of April 19. He was on the air for more than 10 hours that day, as federal authorities used tanks to punch holes in the building where the Branch Davidians lived.
The building eventually caught fire, and Capps was there to broadcast what was happening to millions of CNN viewers around the world.
"It was heartbreaking to see it end like that, knowing little children had burned to death or had been shot to death," Capps said. "The whole thing could have been avoided."
More than 80 people, including 28 children, died that day just outside of Waco.
"I'm glad I was there," Capps said. "Looking at it through [the] 72 years that God has allowed me to be on this earth, it was a seminal moment in that it was a perspective that I needed to have to draw on during tragedies"