Waters was a New York Police Department officer assigned to the New York Museum of Natural History during the Museum Beast Murders investigation. He was posted in the computer room, next to the museum's main electrical switching station.
He found the assignment extremely boring and the technicians inside the computer room irritating. During the opening of the Superstition Exhibition, Waters heard repeated thumping noises coming from the electrical room. He radioed for backup but none was available. A riot had broken out in the Great Rotunda following the discovery of a dead body inside the exhibition.
On edge and terrified, Waters investigated the dark electrical room by himself. He heard a loud thump and fired his shotgun three times in the direction of the noise. Moments later the lights began to fail. In his panicked state, Waters had destroyed the mail electrical switchbox for the entire museum. The security doors began to close automatically, trapping guests, staff, and police inside the building.
After the power failure, Waters and the computer technicians retreated to the museum's security command office. Waters panicked again when Mbwun attempted to enter the security office. He tried to flee but slipped and hit his head on a desk. Special Agent Pendergast and Margo Green lured the beast away from the office before it could break down the door, and Pendergast managed to kill it with a shot directly intot he eye socket.
Vincent D'Agosta, who was in charge of the investigation for the NYPD, was furious with Waters. He was likely severely reprimanded after the event.