PINECREST, FLA. (WSVN) - Tuesday morning’s fatal shooting in Sunrise is not the only time an FBI investigation in South Florida turned deadly.
Back in 1986, two FBI agents were killed and five others wounded after a shooting in a region of unincorporated South Dade that is now Pinecrest.
On April 11 of that year, a gunfight broke out between two bank robbers and eight FBI agents.
It is considered an infamous case because although the FBI agents outnumbered the suspects, they were pinned down by semi-automatic gunfire.
FBI Special Agents Jerry Dove and Benjamin Grogan were killed in the shootout.
At the 10-year anniversary memorial, Agent John Hanlon remembered the day vividly.
“I remember the shooting. I remember the smell of everything. I remember hearing my own breath, and I remember everyone doing the best they could,” Hanlon said.
It all started when William Matix and Michael Platt, two military buddies, were spotted driving a stolen car. They were wanted for a series of violent robberies
“I’ll never forget yelling as loud as I could, ‘FBI! Police! Come out with your hands up!’ and I could tell he wasn’t real impressed with what I had to say, and he responded with about the first 17 rounds,” said survivor Gordan McNeill.
Despite outnumbering the suspects four to one, the agents were picked off one by one by semi-automatic rifle fire.
“I had to be loading this pistol, and I couldn’t be looking, and you’re hearing all this noise, and I’m telling ya, I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Hanlon said.
After taking one bullet to the head, and having another shatter his left arm, Agent Ed Mireles staggered seven yards to pump the final rounds into Matix and Platt.
“In my mind, I was the only one that was in a position to do anything effective, and luckily, I still had the energy to keep going, and in my opinion, I just did what I had to do,” Mireles said.
Platt and Matix were shot dead next to the FBI car they were trying to escape in.
The shootout lasted just five minutes, but the 131 bullets fired forever changed dozens of lives.
“Ben and Jerry gave their lives, in essence, to help make Miami a better place,” Hanlon said.
The agents’ deaths and this shootout led to changes across the country in how all law enforcement officers were trained and armed.
Local and federal police started carrying semi-automatic weapons and wearing bulletproof vests to help ensure they were not outgunned.
As of the Tuesday morning shooting, a total of 83 FBI agents have been killed in the line of duty.
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