After a 30 hour standoff, an MPD SWAT team stormed the house and opened fire, killing all seven captors, after which Hester was found beaten to death.

[3][4] On January 11, 1983, MPD units were called to a house at 2239 Shannon Street to investigate an alleged purse snatching.

Inside the home was Lindberg Sanders—an African-American man who called himself "Black Jesus"—and thirteen other men who were his followers.

Sanders harbored a strong hatred for law enforcement and had told his followers that the world would end on January 10, 1983.

A second officer, William Russell "Russ" Aiken, entered the house and exchanged gunfire with the rebels.

[5] Members of Sanders' family and Memphis' African-American community disputed the MPD's version of events.