Speaker 1: The story of Hollis Daniels is one of tragedy and
Speaker 1: a series of misfortunate events. By all accounts, a crime
Speaker 1: was clearly taking place, but law enforcement could only do
Speaker 1: so much to keep up with the circumstances at hand,
Speaker 1: and eventually it resulted in the death of a police
Speaker 1: officer while they were simply trying to be kind while
Speaker 1: doing their job.
Speaker 2: My name is Ben and I'm Nicole, and you're listening
Speaker 2: to Wicked Ingrim, a true crime podcast.
Speaker 1: The following podcast and material intended for a mature audience
Speaker 1: listener Discretion is a.
Speaker 2: Happy Friday's whoa, this feels funny.
Speaker 1: It's the second episode of the week for the first
Speaker 1: time ever here on Wickeding Grim.
Speaker 2: How's it going well, kind of because sometimes we have
Speaker 2: Halloween Week.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, yeah, but the full episode, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean?
Speaker 2: Yeah, first week we'redale.
Speaker 1: I'm doing it two times a week, so it's the
Speaker 1: first time actually putting it out two times in a
Speaker 1: week for that attended schedule.
Speaker 2: It feels kind of funny. It does feel funny, It
Speaker 2: does feel weird. Yeah, Like, it kind of feels like
Speaker 2: it's the start of the week, but it's actually the
Speaker 2: end of the week.
Speaker 1: It also feels weird in the aspect that I usually
Speaker 1: am like researching the episode right up until we record,
Speaker 1: and I had this episode like research days ago.
Speaker 2: Look at you.
Speaker 1: So I almost like feel like I'm rusty on the
Speaker 1: knowledge of this case. But I've got it all written
Speaker 1: down in a script. I think I'll be fine.
Speaker 2: You deserve a round of applause.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, you dig well done. You did clap for me,
Speaker 1: So I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: Well done.
Speaker 1: Guess what, that's what. I got a haircut today, and
Speaker 1: then I made chocolate chip cookies.
Speaker 2: You did. I came home from a photoshoot and I
Speaker 2: think I've already eaten four. You've eaten four.
Speaker 1: You've had four cookies?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know?
Speaker 1: Are you serious?
Speaker 2: Well that was sort of my dinner. I didn't have dinner.
Speaker 1: You had cookies for all right, okay.
Speaker 2: I chocolate chip cookies and milk for dinner.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And now I'm drinking orange juice and coconut water all.
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, So this is all about health.
Speaker 2: Clearly, I'm pretty much a child, really, or like living
Speaker 2: the child's best life right now.
Speaker 1: We are disasters, clearly because I didn't have dinner either.
Speaker 1: I just I don't know. I think I had three cookies.
Speaker 2: So you had the same fucking thing for dinner, and
Speaker 2: you're bitching me out for it.
Speaker 1: But I was like making the cookies, so I like
Speaker 1: had one and then next batch I had another, and
Speaker 1: then I just didn't eat dinner, you know.
Speaker 2: So I don't think that's any different at least.
Speaker 1: I didn't intend to eat cookies for dinner.
Speaker 2: Neither did I. I came home.
Speaker 1: And ate four cookies because there was.
Speaker 2: Cookies and I needed dinner, and we have to record this,
Speaker 2: and here we are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you intended to eat four cookies for dinner.
Speaker 2: I did not know there was going to be cookies
Speaker 2: when I got home.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you saw them like I'm eating four cookies
Speaker 1: for dinner.
Speaker 2: No, I didn't actually think that anyway. Geez.
Speaker 1: Yes, this is not a cookie podcast. We're going to
Speaker 1: go into this case right away because we rambled, but
Speaker 1: I will before we go into the case tell you
Speaker 1: that when we do thank patrons, we are going to
Speaker 1: continue to thank them on our Tuesday episode. Makes sense,
Speaker 1: so if you sign up for Patreon lists in the
Speaker 1: link is in the description below. By the way, we
Speaker 1: will be thanking at the beginning of the week on
Speaker 1: Tuesdays for whoever does sign it perfect. Yeah, Okay, have
Speaker 1: you ever heard the name Hollis Daniels before? Now, no, Well,
Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you all about who Hollis is. So,
Speaker 1: Hollis was a student at Texas Tech University. He was
Speaker 1: a young man with a very promising future. He grew
Speaker 1: up in Seguin, Texas, which is a small city just
Speaker 1: east of San Antonio. He came from a prominent local family,
Speaker 1: with his father serving as a city councilman and a
Speaker 1: former mayor actually of Seguin as well. His parents were
Speaker 1: the owners of all the local movie theaters in the
Speaker 1: area too, So there was like there were very well
Speaker 1: known and very well respected in the community. You know,
Speaker 1: they had some status, they had some money, and he
Speaker 1: was raised in this very well off environment and family. Okay, Now,
Speaker 1: it is unclear if the traffic stop that occurred shortly
Speaker 1: here after that we'll talk about was routine or targeted,
Speaker 1: but either way, he was pulled over. Hollis Daniels was
Speaker 1: pulled over this one evening. Now, once they ran his
Speaker 1: license plate. After pulling him over this evening, they knew
Speaker 1: exactly who he was. Of course, being prominent in the community,
Speaker 1: his parents being known and everything, and the police were
Speaker 1: very happy to talk with Hollis on this one particular
Speaker 1: evening because Hollis had recently been reported well, a report
Speaker 1: had been put in regarding Hollis. So one of Hollis's
Speaker 1: friends had called the police to report a disturbance that
Speaker 1: occurred at their home near the Texas Tech campus, one
Speaker 1: that involved Hollis. According to the reports, the friend named Leo,
Speaker 1: reported that Hollis was under the influence of drugs and
Speaker 1: had became involved in a heated argument. During this altercation,
Speaker 1: Hollis at some point stole a forty five caliber pistol
Speaker 1: from his friend when it was unnoticed at the fire
Speaker 1: or when it was noticed that the firearm was missing.
Speaker 1: He told Hollis to return the firearm, but Hollis denied
Speaker 1: ever taking it and left. Now, this friend, Leo, made
Speaker 1: the report to authorities, and now here we are with
Speaker 1: Hollis pulled over on the side of the road.
Speaker 2: Well, could someone else have potentially taken it? We assumes
Speaker 2: it was Hollis.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, there was no one else really there
Speaker 1: like it was there. There was a heated argument, then
Speaker 1: Hollis left and the guns now, so it was kind
Speaker 1: of clear that, hey, something's going on here, but Hollis
Speaker 1: strictly denies, Hey, I didn't take it right. And Hollis
Speaker 1: immediately began facing the questions about what happened at Leo's
Speaker 1: place with the officers. He told police there was a
Speaker 1: bit of an altercation, he got knocked down, but he
Speaker 1: was very adamant there was nothing that occurred that would
Speaker 1: have been deemed assault. He's like, yeah, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of got knocked to the ground and he's like, there's
Speaker 1: no assault involved. You can actually watch bodycam footage of
Speaker 1: all this occurring. And he continued to tell them about
Speaker 1: how he had lost his phone at his friend Leo's place,
Speaker 1: and he was searching for it, but he had no
Speaker 1: idea about any sort of stolen gun or lost gun
Speaker 1: nor anything. Now the police they pressed and they asked
Speaker 1: him if he had any weapons or drugs on him,
Speaker 1: to which he simply said no. Now, after Hollis Is
Speaker 1: asked to step out of the vehicle for the questioning,
Speaker 1: another officer shows up and this at the scene and
Speaker 1: the conversation continues with them trying to figure out exactly
Speaker 1: what is going on. Leo says a gun was stolen.
Speaker 1: Hollis says he has no idea about anything. So with
Speaker 1: two sides saying different things, officers need to clear the air.
Speaker 1: They asked Hollis, since you have no drugs or weapons
Speaker 1: on you, do you mind if we search your car
Speaker 1: to corroborate what you're saying, to which Hollis refused.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, So that kind of looks a little a
Speaker 2: little bit guilty, I guess, But also sometimes some people
Speaker 2: might just say fuck no, like it'll weren't kind of thing, right?
Speaker 2: Was this also fair in a sense?
Speaker 1: It is, And that's Hallis wasn't really giving anything one
Speaker 1: way or another, whether I mean he was suspicious or not.
Speaker 1: He's just like, I do not consent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's not necessary Like I mean, it seems
Speaker 2: comes across guilty, but also it's sort of your right.
Speaker 1: It is, you're right. So and unfortunately for the officers
Speaker 1: this meant that they couldn't do anything. The allegations they
Speaker 1: were chasing were exactly that, just allegations. They didn't have
Speaker 1: a search warrant to go into his vehicle or any
Speaker 1: lawful reason to actually go against his consent and search
Speaker 1: it anyways, So they had no choice. They didn't have
Speaker 1: anything on Hollis. They just pulled him over. It was
Speaker 1: talking to him and like all right, you can go.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because it's like, who do you believe kind of.
Speaker 1: Thing exactly now. Hindsight is twenty twenty, however, and if
Speaker 1: the officers only knew what they knew now, that traffic
Speaker 1: stop would have gone much different. See Hollis, although coming
Speaker 1: from a very well respected family and a very nurturing home,
Speaker 1: had a significant behavioral and substance abuse issue starting in
Speaker 1: his high school years. Over time, his drug use intensified,
Speaker 1: leading him to struggle with his addiction. His substance abuse
Speaker 1: issues were compounded by significant mental health struggles as well,
Speaker 1: particularly depression. This created a vicious cycle of self medication
Speaker 1: and impaired judgment. His family was acutely aware of his
Speaker 1: struggles with both mental health and substance abuse, and the
Speaker 1: problems that began in high school seemed to only worsen
Speaker 1: during the time he was now attending university. And though
Speaker 1: drug abuse and mental health issues do not mean someone
Speaker 1: is a bad person or capable of horrible things, in
Speaker 1: this case, it would certainly push Hallis over the edge.
Speaker 2: Shit, I was kind of rooting for Hallis, not gonna
Speaker 2: lie understandable.
Speaker 1: Well, only a few hours after being pulled over at
Speaker 1: that traffic stop, at about two am on October ninth,
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, Hallis's roommate reported hearing a gunshot in the dorms.
Speaker 1: The shot came from Hollis's room. Now, I do want
Speaker 1: to clarify. The dorm room seemed to be like not
Speaker 1: just like a single room with a couple beds inside
Speaker 1: that we think of in like movies. Seems like there's
Speaker 1: like a small living area and like a couple rooms
Speaker 1: that go off in each dorm. So his room is
Speaker 1: within a dorm room that contains a few rooms, like.
Speaker 2: A pod kind I've seen that, yeah, exactly, kind of
Speaker 2: like a.
Speaker 1: Pod sort of thing. So the shot came from Hollis's room,
Speaker 1: and his friend texted him to ask what happened, but
Speaker 1: Hallis just replied he had dropped something, okay, which is
Speaker 1: a blatant bly. I mean, that wasn't you dropped something
Speaker 1: that was a gunshot? Right?
Speaker 2: My god.
Speaker 1: So this was immediately reported to police, who would soon
Speaker 1: arrive at the scene. Now, the police that arrived were
Speaker 1: the Texas Tech University Police, so there are police specifically
Speaker 1: employed by the university, and they made their way to
Speaker 1: his room and conducted a welfare check on Hollis. Before
Speaker 1: police were unable to search his vehicle as they didn't
Speaker 1: have a search warrant. Now, however, things were different this time.
Speaker 1: They were able to conduct a welfare check due to
Speaker 1: the gunshot, which is a matter of public safety, so
Speaker 1: a warrant was well not warranted.
Speaker 2: Right right, it makes sense.
Speaker 1: Sorry, So they knocked on his door at room one
Speaker 1: thirty four and there was no answer, so they forced
Speaker 1: entry into his room via a key they were given
Speaker 1: by the university staff. Now, I do want to clarify
Speaker 1: they didn't atually knock on his door. Within the door.
Speaker 1: They knocked in the dorm room one thirty four. No
Speaker 1: one answered, but when they did enter, one of his
Speaker 1: roommates was like just getting out of bed. He's like, oh, sorry, officers,
Speaker 1: I was sleeping sort of thing. So they talked to
Speaker 1: the friend and then got Halliss's room and yeah.
Speaker 2: That seems so interesting. A gunshot just went off in
Speaker 2: your pod and you're sleeping.
Speaker 1: Well it was there was some time that had gone by.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like a few.
Speaker 2: Mens, I guess, but still jeez.
Speaker 1: No. Anyways, when they went to Halliss's room, he wasn't there,
Speaker 1: but they found some stuff inside that were rather concerning. Immediately,
Speaker 1: the first thing they saw was a pistol sitting on
Speaker 1: a shelf in the room. It was quickly, however, discovered
Speaker 1: to be an air powered baby gun, though, so it
Speaker 1: wasn't anything illegal. It wasn't a firearm. It was just
Speaker 1: kind of like, oh, that looks suspicious. Okay, wait, never mind,
Speaker 1: it's just a bebgun. We're all good. Probably shouldn't have
Speaker 1: it on a campus. But still nothing illegal going on,
Speaker 1: so it wasn't something it could have made the sound,
Speaker 1: and they continued to search. This wasn't the only thing
Speaker 1: that they found in his room. Different types of illicit
Speaker 1: drugs were uncovered all throughout his room. The more they searched,
Speaker 1: the more drugs they found. Drawers were full of them,
Speaker 1: and there was far more than just that would be
Speaker 1: considered personal or recreational use. While in the middle of
Speaker 1: the search, suddenly a student poked their head into the room,
Speaker 1: looking confused. The police asked their name and they immediately
Speaker 1: replied with Andreas. Now immediately a reply came to that
Speaker 1: name and it was the roommate and he said, no,
Speaker 1: it's not he was calling bullshit. It was Hollis, Oh.
Speaker 2: Shit, okay, and something that you just said. The drugs,
Speaker 2: like there was more than he would need for himself personally.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't really clarify how much was in his room, okay,
Speaker 1: but there was a lot in his room, a lot
Speaker 1: more to just say, like, this is not recreational.
Speaker 2: Okay, not necessarily that he's like selling them or anything, just.
Speaker 1: It potentially could be by the sound of it, but
Speaker 1: also from the visuals of what I've seen, it's not
Speaker 1: like he's just like offloading like tens of thousands of
Speaker 1: dollars of drugs. It's just much more than one person needs, okay,
Speaker 1: of multiple types. Huh, it's hard. It's really hard to
Speaker 1: get a pin on how much drugs he had.
Speaker 2: Well, it's so interesting too that he just threw through
Speaker 2: his fucking roommate under the bus, like that was saying
Speaker 2: that he's a different name.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, honestly, you have police searching your dorms,
Speaker 1: you have a potential gun that's stolen or lost, you
Speaker 1: have a potential gun shot going off. There's drugs riddled
Speaker 1: throughout this roommate's room. All of this could potentially affect
Speaker 1: your school, your grades, and how you're going to graduate.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I probably fucking do the same thing. I'm
Speaker 1: like that bullshit.
Speaker 2: Well no, I mean, like hall is saying someone else,
Speaker 2: Oh that's what I meant. Well, of course, like he
Speaker 2: was just like easily said that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it was like he didn't just like, what's
Speaker 1: your name, Andreas, It was like, what's your name? He's like, uh, Andreas. Okay,
Speaker 1: because they again body cam footage, you can watch them, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but anyways, they're like, clearly, this is not Andreas. Police
Speaker 1: immediately detained him and they figured out, yes, it was Hollis.
Speaker 1: So they did a full pat down on him, feeling
Speaker 1: around his person for the alleged firearm and whatever else
Speaker 1: he may have. They didn't find a gun, but they
Speaker 1: did find that he was faring carrying a large amount
Speaker 1: of pills that were not prescribed to him. Now, they
Speaker 1: read the miranda rights to him as they began questioning him.
Speaker 1: They couldn't say much to the drugs that are so
Speaker 1: he couldn't say much to the drugs that were found, other
Speaker 1: than trying to downplay it all and said that they
Speaker 1: were just recreational purposes, you know, just like shit, I
Speaker 1: got a couple a lot of drugs. He's just trying
Speaker 1: to like make it not sound as bad as it is, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: And he denied hearing any sort of gunshot as well,
Speaker 1: and even tried to use the traffic stop from a
Speaker 1: few hours ago as an alibi to say he couldn't
Speaker 1: have been there in the room when the gun went
Speaker 1: off because he was pulled over by another officer earlier. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So he's even like, I bet you if you look
Speaker 1: at like the traffic ticket or like the files or anything,
Speaker 1: you'll see the time and it will will not match
Speaker 1: when the gunshot went off. So he's trying to like say.
Speaker 2: This, I thought that he just dropped something. He's now
Speaker 2: using a different story.
Speaker 1: Hey, what do you mean he dropped something?
Speaker 2: Well, his friend texted what was that? And he dropped something?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah yeah, Oh.
Speaker 2: Whoa that went way over your head?
Speaker 1: Eh yeah I did. I was like, what do you mean,
Speaker 1: what gotcha? No? Yeah no, he was just trying to
Speaker 1: say like, yeah, no, it wasn't me. So now, whether
Speaker 1: he was involved in the shot that was fired had
Speaker 1: yet to be determined, but for now he was going
Speaker 1: to be under arrest for the possession of large amount
Speaker 1: of illegal substances. He was handcuffed, walked outside, and on
Speaker 1: his way outside, he asked if he quickly, you know,
Speaker 1: bend down tie a shoe, but he was denied the
Speaker 1: request before being placed in the back of the squad
Speaker 1: car and driven away. Now, once Officer Floyd East and
Speaker 1: Officer Tyler Snelson, who had been conducting the investigation so
Speaker 1: far at Texas Tech University from the Texas Tech University
Speaker 1: Police Department for this whole process, they took him for
Speaker 1: further processing. Now, when they brought him inside, everything up
Speaker 1: to this point had been going, you know, fine. Hollis
Speaker 1: sure gave a fake name, but he'd been very cooperative.
Speaker 1: He hasn't been showing signs of violence. He wasn't really
Speaker 1: reluctant to answer any questions when they were talking to him.
Speaker 1: He was, you know, being honest. At times. He was like,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't like when they're searching his room.
Speaker 1: He's like, you know, I don't consent to the search.
Speaker 1: They're like, you can't really say that, you know, it's
Speaker 1: a welfare check sort of things. He's all right, sort
Speaker 1: of you know. So he's being very reasonable, a very
Speaker 1: reasonable individual for the situation. And at approximately seven fourteen,
Speaker 1: Officer East took Hollis's handcuffs off as he entered the
Speaker 1: booking room to make him a little bit more comfortable.
Speaker 1: After all, sitting in the handcuffs for hours, it is
Speaker 1: probably not the most relaxing thing to do, and so
Speaker 1: with his behavior up to this point, is why East
Speaker 1: took his handcuffs off. Now they all sat down and
Speaker 1: began to process the paperwork. Officer Snelson soon left the
Speaker 1: room and allowed Officer East to continue on his own.
Speaker 1: Everything had been routine up until now, nothing was out
Speaker 1: of the ordinary. It was standard for booking. However, at
Speaker 1: approximately seven point forty five, about half an hour later,
Speaker 1: while Officer East was completing the paperwork for Hollis Daniels
Speaker 1: and his booking a shot rung off through the station.
Speaker 1: The gunshot caused immediate chaos and confusion within the police department.
Speaker 1: Bodycam footage shows Officer Snelson, gun drawn, heading to the
Speaker 1: booking room. Though it doesn't show what he finds inside,
Speaker 1: we do know he sees his partner Officer East slumped
Speaker 1: over in his chair with his body cam torn away.
Speaker 1: He was shot dead, and Hollis was nowhere to be found.
Speaker 2: Holy shit, I thought that they padded him down though
Speaker 2: they were checked him.
Speaker 1: They did.
Speaker 2: Holy fuck. So there was where the hell was the gun?
Speaker 1: We'll get to that. There was a single forty five
Speaker 1: caliber cartridge laying on the ground in the room, and
Speaker 1: strangely enough, the shell did not match the police issued
Speaker 1: pistol that was still on Officer East's hip in the holster.
Speaker 1: So Officer E still had his pistol and there was
Speaker 1: another shell. Yeah, okay, So they quickly cleared the building
Speaker 1: in search of the now active shooter on a school campus.
Speaker 1: No shit, but he was gone. He made his getaway
Speaker 1: and was no longer in the building. The campus community
Speaker 1: was alerted to the situation and students and staff were
Speaker 1: advised to shell they're in place as an immediate lockdown
Speaker 1: was issued on Texas Tech University campus and a manhunt
Speaker 1: for Hollis began.
Speaker 2: Did he kill this police officer?
Speaker 1: Sorry?
Speaker 2: Or have you not announced that yet, Officer East? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yes, like he's dead. Officer East was shot dead.
Speaker 2: He just fucking killed him, just like that. Okay, Wow,
Speaker 2: this Hollist guy. What a fucker. I was like thinking,
Speaker 2: I don't know, feeling bad for him a little bit.
Speaker 1: You were kind of rooting for him. I feel that
Speaker 1: I get you there.
Speaker 2: Because I think it was sort of his whole mental
Speaker 2: health issues that he was having, and like, I know
Speaker 2: how much that sucks and can be like so draining
Speaker 2: and just brutal. But yeah, uh, he sucks.
Speaker 1: No, he does. And to be honest, like I was
Speaker 1: rooting for him too, because that sort of shit is
Speaker 1: not easy, no, and so like I was rooting for
Speaker 1: him too, but until he goes too far.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, he just literally took someone's life. Holy shit,
Speaker 2: did Okay. I wasn't really expecting that.
Speaker 1: So multiple law enforcement agencies, including Camp police, local police,
Speaker 1: and other emergency responders, coordinated their efforts together to try
Speaker 1: and find Hollis. Officers spread out across the campus and
Speaker 1: surrounding areas, utilizing all available resources that they could to
Speaker 1: find him. Authorities released a description of him and warned
Speaker 1: the public that he was armed and dangerous. The alert
Speaker 1: described him as wearing a white T shirt and dark pants,
Speaker 1: and the public was instructed to contact police immediately if
Speaker 1: they happened to see him.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, now this is like pretty scary because you
Speaker 2: know what, he is capable.
Speaker 1: Exactly exactly now. Thankfully, though, it didn't take long before
Speaker 1: Hollis Daniels was found. He was found near Lubbock, sorry,
Speaker 1: Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. I stumbled out my bad, which is
Speaker 1: situated on the Texas Tech University campus and relatively close
Speaker 1: to the police station where the shooting actually occurred. So
Speaker 1: he actually never did leave the campus. So Hollis was
Speaker 1: quickly apprehended with out further incident at around nine thirty PM,
Speaker 1: approximately an hour and forty five minutes after the shooting
Speaker 1: had taken place. So while the search for him was occurring,
Speaker 1: a forty five caliber pistol was found discarded in a
Speaker 1: storm drain on campus. This not only was proven to
Speaker 1: be the murder weapon, but the stolen firearm from Hollis's
Speaker 1: friend Leo. Now, the question remained, though, how did Hollis
Speaker 1: manage to hide the gun from authorities and smuggle it
Speaker 1: into the police station while he was being detained? You
Speaker 1: had a question already, and what was it?
Speaker 2: Sorry, I've moved on to another question, but it was
Speaker 2: basically like how the heck he had this where it
Speaker 2: was like, was where the hell was the gun?
Speaker 1: Because you said what they did a full pat down?
Speaker 2: Right they did? Yeah? I remember you saying, that's what's
Speaker 2: your new question? Jeez my brain. Okay, Well, because I
Speaker 2: know I don't understand this. It just makes no sense
Speaker 2: to me that someone would go to the length of
Speaker 2: like murdering a police officer and then just like being
Speaker 2: found so soon after, like you think that you would
Speaker 2: just I don't know. That just seems like such lengths
Speaker 2: to just be like here. Yeah, I am kind of like,
Speaker 2: it just doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1: Really, I wholeheartedly agree with you. There's I can't find
Speaker 1: reason for any of this, if I'm being honest, other
Speaker 1: than hey, substance abuse and mental health.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's true, because I mean, gosh, to take a
Speaker 2: life like that, God, you think you would just run
Speaker 2: for the goddamn hills and never be found.
Speaker 1: No, he didn't really even go very far.
Speaker 2: So what was the point of that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, we're going to back up though, how
Speaker 1: did he actually get the gun into the police officer
Speaker 1: officer station while he was being detained? And he did
Speaker 1: go through a full pat down, So I'm going to
Speaker 1: go through everything on how it occurred. Are you ready
Speaker 1: for this?
Speaker 2: I guess yeah, Okay, I'm very intrigued here.
Speaker 1: In order for all this to happen, everything had to
Speaker 1: go perfectly, and by perfectly, I don't mean according to
Speaker 1: plan or anything not like Hollis planned this out. It's
Speaker 1: just a matter of a domino effect where one thing
Speaker 1: leads to another and to another, and if it doesn't
Speaker 1: happen exactly as it did, then Hollis would have never,
Speaker 1: never have been able to murder Officer East in cold blood.
Speaker 2: I already hate this. Then you want those domino effects
Speaker 2: to go when it's like in someone's favor, yes, and
Speaker 2: this is not.
Speaker 1: No, it did not go in anyone's favor. So while
Speaker 1: Hollis was being searched in the dorms, the officers did
Speaker 1: not cut any corners and do an insufficient job. They
Speaker 1: did their job correctly. They turned out his pockets, they
Speaker 1: had him raise his arms, they felt his torso is, waistline,
Speaker 1: you name it. They did it all. Yet the entire time,
Speaker 1: they never felt the gun that was tucked into the
Speaker 1: front of his pants. They didn't feel it because everything. Sorry,
Speaker 1: every time Hollis moved or the officers patted his body,
Speaker 1: the gun shifted and fell further into his pants. Each
Speaker 1: time they felt around they might have just missed the gun,
Speaker 1: and the gun slipped further. And then they put their
Speaker 1: hand where the gun was, and then it slipped further,
Speaker 1: always missing the gun, while always insuring they still padded
Speaker 1: down completely and sufficiently. Damn, really, they missed contact the
Speaker 1: entire process until eventually the gun slid. The gun had
Speaker 1: slid down his pant leg, coming to a rest in
Speaker 1: the bottom cuff of his pants when the search ended.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that seems impossible.
Speaker 1: But that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: From here, as Hollis was being led from the dorm,
Speaker 1: he asked to stop and tie his shoe. Yep, the
Speaker 1: request was denied, but it is assumed at this point
Speaker 1: he was hoping to retrieve the gun, but he was
Speaker 1: not allowed to. Regardless, he was put back into the
Speaker 1: police car, into the back seat. At this point, the
Speaker 1: gun actually fell out of his pant leg onto the
Speaker 1: floor of the police cruiser, and if they actually watched
Speaker 1: back the footage in the cruiser, you can audibly hear
Speaker 1: a thud no with the cuffs still on his wrist
Speaker 1: behind his back, Hollis managed to maneuver the gun back
Speaker 1: into place and tuck it into his sock without being noticed.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: How I don't know, Like I say, the perfect domino.
Speaker 2: Effect, because in the video you can literally see that
Speaker 2: or hear whatever. The gun fully fell out of his pants.
Speaker 1: It's not like super loud, but you can hear a.
Speaker 2: Thud, so like it was out of his pants. It
Speaker 2: was out of this He managed to do that?
Speaker 1: Yes, okay?
Speaker 2: Wow?
Speaker 1: From here. Once inside the station, Officer East's kindness was
Speaker 1: the final thing that Hollis needed. Officer East, having compassion,
Speaker 1: he removed Hollis's handcuffs because of his so far good behavior,
Speaker 1: and he began the processing.
Speaker 2: Damn.
Speaker 1: There is security footage from the booking room which shows
Speaker 1: Hollis tying his shoe where he is actually retrieving the pistol.
Speaker 1: From here, he waits the right moment. He strikes up
Speaker 1: a conversation with Officer East by asking about his family
Speaker 1: and his kids, and then in that moment he raises
Speaker 1: the gun, shooting and killing Officer East.
Speaker 2: What the shit he's asking him about his family?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: And then he kills them.
Speaker 1: Yes. Later in court Hollis recalled why he asked about
Speaker 1: his family right before shooting him, to which he responded
Speaker 1: that he thought it would be a good final thought
Speaker 1: before he died. Like, holy, that is fucking cold blood.
Speaker 2: Whoa that is nasty. Yeah, And so this guy had
Speaker 2: like a family and kids and shit.
Speaker 1: I didn't research on on his family exactly, but I
Speaker 1: do know he had he had kids, and he had
Speaker 1: a family. But other than that, I don't know the
Speaker 1: extent of them.
Speaker 2: What a fucker. Wow wow wow.
Speaker 1: Yep, so Hollis. Alvin Daniels, the third, was charged with
Speaker 1: the capital murder of Officer Floyd East Junior, a charge
Speaker 1: that carries severe penalties, including the possibility of the death
Speaker 1: penalty or life imprisonment without parole. His defense team, not
Speaker 1: surprisingly focused on his extensive history of mental health issues
Speaker 1: and drug addiction. They argued that these factors significantly impaired
Speaker 1: his judgment and behavior at the time of the shooting,
Speaker 1: which I'm sure it did, but it's still no exit.
Speaker 1: And to me, you know what, if he's sitting here
Speaker 1: asking about family, that shows me he was not impaired whatsoever.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, personally, he knew what he was doing and
Speaker 2: he like, oh gosh, he had so many, so much
Speaker 2: time to change his mind of that as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So. After several years of legal proceedings and maneuvering
Speaker 1: and pre trial activities, a pivotal moment in the case
Speaker 1: occurred in August of twenty twenty one, when Hollis Daniels
Speaker 1: entered a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty. He
Speaker 1: pleaded guilty to the charge of capital murder. As part
Speaker 1: of the plea agreement, Hollis was sentenced to life in
Speaker 1: prison without the possibility of parole. The agreement and sentencing
Speaker 1: brought a mix of emotions from the community and Officer
Speaker 1: East family. While justice was served through the conviction and sentencing,
Speaker 1: the loss of Officer East continued to weigh heavily on
Speaker 1: those who knew and loved him about Officer East. Officer
Speaker 1: Floyd East, Junior was a dedicated law enforcement officer who
Speaker 1: served pridefully at Texas Tech University. He was born and
Speaker 1: raised in El Paso, Texas, and was known for his
Speaker 1: strong commitment and community service and had a passion for
Speaker 1: helping others. Upon joining the Texas Tech University Police Department,
Speaker 1: Officer East quickly became a respected and loved member of
Speaker 1: the campus community. His colleagues and students alike admired his professionalism, kindness,
Speaker 1: and dedication to ensuring the safety and well being of
Speaker 1: everyone on campus. He was known for his friendly demeanor
Speaker 1: and his ability to connect with students, often going above
Speaker 1: and beyond his duties to offer support in guidance. Officer
Speaker 1: East was not only a committed officer, but also devoted
Speaker 1: family man. He was married and had two daughters. That
Speaker 1: is the extent of what I really know, but they do.
Speaker 1: They were the light for him. His family and friends
Speaker 1: remember him as a loving husband, a father who always
Speaker 1: put his family first. Leg He is one of dedication selfishness.
Speaker 1: In the wake of his death, numerous tributes and memorials
Speaker 1: were held in honor of his memory. Vigils and memorial
Speaker 1: services were held at Texas Tech University and in El
Speaker 1: Paso alike. In honor of him, scholarships and awards have
Speaker 1: been established to support students pursuing careers in law enforcement
Speaker 1: and criminal justice. Officer east legacy continues to inspire others
Speaker 1: in the law enforcement community and beyond. Officer Floyd East,
Speaker 1: Junior was sworn in at the Texas Tech Police on
Speaker 1: May first, twenty seventeen. He had only been with the
Speaker 1: Texas Tech University Police Department for about five months before
Speaker 1: he was tragically killed at the hands of Hollis Daniels.
Speaker 2: Oh, man, that is just like, I mean, gosh, motes,
Speaker 2: murders and stuff are very unnecessary, but that is just like, Oh,
Speaker 2: it's his heart wrenching.
Speaker 1: Really it is. Well, the compassion that he had. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he allowed Hollis out of cuffs, which I'm going to
Speaker 1: argue here. I don't know if it would have been
Speaker 1: the final thing. I think Hollis might have been able
Speaker 1: to still get away with this even in cuffs.
Speaker 2: Well, I think a lot of times you see, like
Speaker 2: when they're in the interrogation room, that the criminals aren't necessarily.
Speaker 1: Oh cuffs, Yeah, definitely. So there was protocols that were followed,
Speaker 1: and I don't think there was anything bad that was
Speaker 1: done in how it was executed. It just so happened
Speaker 1: that he managed to get through it all with a
Speaker 1: gun still at his person.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And this poor man was just like, you know,
Speaker 2: trying to make the world a better place and helping
Speaker 2: out and I mean, yeah, they put themselves in that
Speaker 2: sort of situation. Right, but it just never should have
Speaker 2: to come to be I agree, like, gosh, yeah, like
Speaker 2: you said, the dominos, because he was searched till it's
Speaker 2: just like.
Speaker 1: He was searched for. I don't know if anyone's heard this.
Speaker 2: I know if your phone was going nuts, I don't
Speaker 2: know why I'm trying to ignore it.
Speaker 1: You need to put it on side.
Speaker 2: Well, I generally do. Out of like two hundred episodes,
Speaker 2: this is the only episode. Well, maybe there's been one other.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, it's fine. It's probably Melissa. Just tell
Speaker 1: her to shut up. Yeah, so it was. That's exactly
Speaker 1: what it was. It's the perfect storm, if you will,
Speaker 1: domino effect, or if in the safety world I'm falling
Speaker 1: back of my safety history again, they call it the
Speaker 1: Swiss cheese effect, where it's like all the holes just
Speaker 1: happened to line up properly for the accident to occur. So,
Speaker 1: and that's exactly what it was. It's like all the
Speaker 1: Swiss cheese happens to line up for a perfect hole
Speaker 1: for something to fall through. And that's exactly this scenario.
Speaker 1: You could not have foreseen this, you could not have
Speaker 1: prevented it. He did a bad thing. He knew it
Speaker 1: was going to do a bad thing, and he just
Speaker 1: so happened to have the weapon to do it.
Speaker 2: It's still honestly been surprising to me that he went
Speaker 2: that far. I know, like it's a bit shocking.
Speaker 1: And in because I saw some stuff with him afterwards,
Speaker 1: like in the rooms and stuff like that, like when
Speaker 1: he was actually arrested and stuff after the fact, and
Speaker 1: he's like doing a phone call and he's talking to
Speaker 1: like his sister and dad, and he seems fine, like
Speaker 1: he's not crying or like really remorsefully. It's just like
Speaker 1: he almost seems like it's no big deal. He's going
Speaker 1: to get out soon. Sort of situation.
Speaker 2: Hm hmm. Yeah, that does sort of, I mean seem
Speaker 2: like some sort of meant like quite a mental health
Speaker 2: disorder there. It's like a switch, you know.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but yeah, we don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, still, gosh, he took a life, and yeah,
Speaker 2: that is just so bad.
Speaker 1: Throughout any of the video that I saw with him,
Speaker 1: he was very much so calm, cool and collected, and
Speaker 1: he just I don't know, even though he'd taken a life,
Speaker 1: he's still the same.
Speaker 2: Wow. That's bizarre. Yeah, so scary.
Speaker 1: That's a story of Hollis Daniels and Officer Floyd East Junior.
Speaker 2: Huh shit, Yeah, so that's like that's uh, I don't know, gosh,
Speaker 2: I mean lots of times at the end of the episodes,
Speaker 2: I'm just like.
Speaker 1: Speechless, don't know what to say. Yeah, but this was.
Speaker 2: Like really got me because it was just all a
Speaker 2: little bit unexpected, and it's just it's kind of hard
Speaker 2: to explain, right, like, yeah, why the fuck that happened?
Speaker 1: Well, and that's the thing, because there's interviews with the
Speaker 1: Texas Tech Police Department and they're like, why did this happen?
Speaker 1: And it's like, what the fuck do they say? Mm hmm,
Speaker 1: it happened. No one did anything wrong.
Speaker 2: It just well no, and like those people too that
Speaker 2: did pat him down, they probably feel so bad, but
Speaker 2: they didn't, like they didn't you don't do anything wrong.
Speaker 2: But I can only imagine that that just like.
Speaker 1: Well, it was Officer Snelson and Officer East that patted.
Speaker 2: Oh it was then that fucking padded Yeah, okay, for
Speaker 2: some reason I thought it was others. Oh gosh, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2: It just keeps getting worse.
Speaker 1: They were the ones who who went to the call
Speaker 1: of led shooting. Which, by the way, there was I
Speaker 1: don't know how the time in between them showing up
Speaker 1: to the dorms and the actual leed shooting happening, but
Speaker 1: there was like some fresh like cover up on the wall,
Speaker 1: like paint or something, some putty, so he like he
Speaker 1: clearly put a fucking hole in the wall and like
Speaker 1: tried to cover it up and then took off right away.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, okay, Well, on that note, should we go
Speaker 2: continue eating our dinner.
Speaker 1: A chocolate sounds great? Oh my god, We're gonna have
Speaker 1: a glass of pepto bismo with it. Anyways, thank you
Speaker 1: for being here for the very first official Friday episode
Speaker 1: for our podcast. If you want to check out any
Speaker 1: of the links, join us on Patreon. Links are all
Speaker 1: in the description of this podcast. If you want to
Speaker 1: give us a review, we really appreciate that. If you
Speaker 1: want to check us out on you Tube, this is
Speaker 1: all being filmed. If you're on YouTube, you can check
Speaker 1: us out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts too. There's a much
Speaker 1: larger library audio only. We're coming up on two hundred episodes.
Speaker 2: So wild.
Speaker 1: Yeah. We only have I think like twenty recorded that
Speaker 1: are on YouTube. We can't go back and video record
Speaker 1: audio only stuff.
Speaker 2: We can't.
Speaker 1: We can't. Surprisingly, we don't have a time machine. But
Speaker 1: going forward, everything's gonna be video and we will be
Speaker 1: putting it on YouTube, so you can check it out there,
Speaker 1: or audio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, you name it, wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Yeah, yeah, there you go, there you go.
Speaker 1: Wanti words from Nicole. All right, well, thanks for being here.
Speaker 1: We will see you on Tuesday, and until then, stay wicked.