POLICE DEFEND SHOOTINGS OF 2 MEN AT RAINBOW FARM

Tom Crosslin, who had been holed up in his house at Rainbow Farm campground
for four days in a standoff with police, crested a hill dressed in
camouflage gear late Monday and walked into a wooded area where a three-man
FBI observation team was set up. Crosslin raised his .22-caliber
semi-automatic rifle to shoulder height and was fatally shot by two agents
from a distance of about 25 feet.

The following morning, Rolland Rohm set fire to the L-shaped house about 6
a.m. and was seen about 45 minutes later pointing a similar rifle at a
State Police officer on a hill near the burning property. He was gunned
down from long range. Two State Police officers fired their weapons.

That's the story police and FBI agents related to reporters and camera
crews Wednesday during a walk-through at Rainbow Farm, about two miles
northeast of Vandalia, a tiny farming town in southwest Michigan.

There were four shooters, police said. They declined to say how many
bullets medical examiners found in the victims, who were wanted on drug and
weapons charges and who drew the attention of authorities last Friday when
they started burning buildings at the camp ground and firing at a TV news
helicopter.

The two State Police officers are on administrative leave pending a state
investigation. Two FBI agents have been relieved of their weapons during a
federal probe but remain on the job. The actions are standard practice,
officials said.

FBI and State Police officials refused to release the names of the agents
and officers involved in the shootings.

The FBI report will be turned over to the Cass County prosecutor's office,
which will decide whether the Crosslin shooting was justified. State Police
officials said they're not certain yet where they will send their report on
the Rohm shooting or what action might be taken.

The investigation so far has concluded that both Crosslin and Rohm were
carrying loaded weapons. Police said they're still at a loss to explain why
Crosslin and Rohm decided to hole up in the house and raise their weapons
rather than surrender.

"The weapon Mr. Rohm had was fully loaded, with a round in the chamber and
the safety off," said State Police Capt. Richard Dragoner.

All 10 structures in the compound have been reduced to stone foundations
and smoldering cinders. FBI and State Police evidence teams accompanied by
trained dogs were sifting through the ashes Wednesday. They found several
guns and rifles, a pipe bomb and more than 100 shell casings. No drugs or
marijuana plants were found at the scene.

"We suspect that any drugs that might have been here were burned in the
fires," said John Bell, special agent from the FBI office in Detroit.

"Law enforcement did not set the fires," Bell added. "And there were no
overt or aggressive actions taken by law enforcement."

More than 120 FBI agents, State Police officers and Cass County Sheriff's
deputies were at or near the scene during the standoff.

Relatives of Crosslin and Rohm and supporters of the marijuana legalization
effort they espoused said they're wary of internal police and FBI
investigations.

"The only witnesses were police and victims, who are now dead," said George
Colwell, uncle of Crosslin. "I don't think we'll ever know the whole truth
about these shootings."