2 FBI agents killed, 3 wounded, suspect dead in Florida

SUNRISE, Fla. >> Two FBI agents were killed and three injured in a gunfight when they came to search for an apartment in a child pornography case that marked one of the bloodiest days in FBI history today. The suspect is believed to have committed suicide.

While the SWAT team raided the apartment and police helicopters circled over their hills, Fort Lauderdale’s suburb of Sunrise forced residents to gather at their homes.

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray identified the two killed agents as Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger, and both specialized in investigating crimes against children.

Miami FBI agent Michael D. Leverock said that two of the injured agents were taken to hospitals for treatment and his condition was stable. Wray said the third did not require hospitalization.

George Piro, head of the FBI’s Miami field office, said at a press conference that the suspect opened fire on agents when they came to carry out the federal search warrant.

“Today this brutal reality got two of the best in our family,” Piro said. They were valued members of the FBI and will be heroes forever. We will always honor their ultimate sacrifice.

President Joe Biden expressed his condolences during an immigration event in the White House.

“They are putting their lives in danger and this is a price to pay,” he said of the agents. My heart hurts for families.

Piro said the suspect could not be identified until his family was informed. Based on a preliminary investigation, federal officials believe he had shot himself fatally, according to a law enforcement agency familiar with the matter. The person warned that an official cause of death has not yet been determined and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

The shooting took place at around 6 am in a middle-class detached house, duplex and apartment neighborhood west of Fort Lauderdale, near the Everglades.

Gunfire broke out with about four shots – “Boom, boom, boom, boom!” Julius McLymont, on the edge of the Water Terrace apartment complex, where the suspect is barricaded, said.

At first McLymont thought the gunshot was the recoil of the car, then two minutes later he heard five more shots. He went out and looked over his fence as police cars and ambulances were entering. Then he saw officers working on someone lying on the ground before they loaded the person into the ambulance.

Subsequently, a SWAT squad appeared, in which the police were wearing riot gear. Then he wandered around the building and said, “Go, go, go!” They shouted. McLymont said. He said he could not see the apartment where he was shot from the scene.

Hours later, law enforcement closed the entrances of their communities while the Sunrise Police called on Water Terrace residents to stay at their homes.

According to Leverock and FBI Agents Association President Brian O’Hare, FBI agents had come to the apartment complex to issue a federal search warrant in connection with a case of child pornography and violent crimes against children.

According to the FBI website, the filming marked one of the bloodiest days in FBI history in South Florida, and also one of the deadliest nationally.

Schwartzenberger, 43, has been an agent with the FBI since December 2005 and, according to court records, was working a agenda for violent crimes against children at the Miami field office. His studies focused primarily on tracking criminals who sexually abused children online and investigating other crimes against children. Piro said Schwartzenberger survived with a husband and two children.

Alfin, 36, who has also investigated child abuse cases, previously handled major cases of violent crimes against children at the FBI headquarters, according to court records. He had a degree in information technology and went through FBI’s special training programs for cybercrime. He was involved in a major child abuse investigation called Playpen, which resulted in worldwide arrests. Piro said that Alfin was survived by a wife and child.

“Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger demonstrated heroism in defending their country today,” Wray said in a statement. “The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and be forever grateful for their courage.”

After the clashes hit on Tuesday, police motorcycles escorted the body of one of the agents to the medical examination office near Dania Beach while a fire truck escorted it. Law enforcement officers from numerous institutions that lined up to show their respect were removed from the vehicle as the corpse covered with a flag and taken inside.

Alex Piquero, professor of sociology at the University of Miami, who specializes in criminology, said that it is incredibly dangerous for law enforcement to issue a search warrant in a person’s home.

“Besides calls for internal disputes and high-speed pursuits, arrest warrants are the most dangerous for law enforcement – they don’t know what awaits them inside,” Piquero said.

According to the Bureau’s Wall of Honor, there have been several other gun attacks throughout the history of the FBI, in which two agents died.

In South Florida, the famous “Miami Conflict” in 1986, Agents Ben Grogan and Jerry Dove were killed in a gunfight with two suspects of heavy armed robbery, who were also killed. Five more FBI agents were injured in that fire, which resulted in replenishing the weapons the agents were carrying.