The two FBI agents who lost their lives in a predawn confrontation in Sunrise on Tuesday morning specialized in taking down grown men who exploited children for pornography.
But this time, the target of their investigation saw them coming, watching them through a doorbell camera and ambushing them by opening fire, sources say. Five FBI agents were hit, some multiple times. Two did not survive.
It was the deadliest day for the FBI since 9/11, and the first time two agents were gunned down in the line of duty in more than 30 years.
On Tuesday, the team of agents had gathered outside a first-floor unit at the Water Terrace Apartments, armed with a search warrant as part of their investigation. It’s the kind of enforcement action that takes place all the time, usually without incident, but then the gunfire began.
“All we heard was shots, bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam,” one neighbor said, estimating 50 rounds fired. “SWAT teams and cops came in and started carrying people out. … They smashed the SWAT truck into the front patio.”
Those killed were Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger, FBI special agents well-versed in child-pornography investigations. Three other agents were injured. The suspect hid in his apartment. Less than three hours later, he was found dead, too.
Alfin was born in New York, said George Piro, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office. His first assignment was in Albany, New York. He came to Miami in 2007 and worked on crimes against children for more than six years. He leaves behind a wife and a child.
Schwartzenberger was born in Colorado. Her first assignment with the FBI was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has worked in crimes against children for over seven years. She leaves behind a husband and two children.
Neighbors said the suspect, whose name wasn’t released by authorities, was a nuisance who had been reported to the police and to the homeowners association. The occupant of the targeted apartment has a computer consulting business registered with the state, records show.
Questions remain about what went wrong. But in the immediate aftermath of the FBI’s deadliest day since 9/11, the attention was turned to those who sacrificed their lives to protect South Florida’s children from adults who would exploit them for sex and pornography.
“Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger exemplified heroism today in defense of their country,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for their bravery.”
The last time two FBI agents were shot and killed in the line of duty was April 11, 1986 — and it happened in South Florida. Agents Jerry Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed during a gun battle with robbery suspects in Southwest Miami. The suspects, armed with high powered semi-automatic rifles, also wounded five other agents before being killed.
Today the federal building in Miramar is named for Dove and Grogan.
Brian O’Hare, president of the FBI Agents Association, said Tuesday’s shooting showed the dangers that agents face in the line of duty.
“FBI special agents risk their lives to protect our country,” O’Hare said, “and the loss of these agents is devastating to the entire FBI community and to our country.”
According to emergency radio dispatches, the incident began to unfold as law enforcement gathered at the scene before dawn. At 6:13 a.m., fire rescue personnel got their first report of shots being fired. Two minutes later, someone at the scene got on a police radio to report five shooting victims, including an agent shot in the leg.
Residents of the area surrounding Tuesday’s shooting spent the morning dealing with the aftermath, navigating traffic diversions while still processing the tragic news.
Zoraida Fortich, who lives across Nob Hill Road from where the shooting took place, said she woke to the sounds of a low-flying helicopter and a swarm of police cars. “I woke up at six and I heard police and the helicopter,” she said. “I thought it was a traffic (crash) over here so I came outside and saw all the police.”
She knew how serious it was when she realized traffic had been shut down to the point she could not leave.
“I couldn’t get out of the neighborhood because they blocked Nob Hill,” she said
Dan Carter grabbed his Cannon camera with a long lens and his mixed breed dog, Dee Dee, and headed to the corner to document the moment. “Bless those officers who lost their lives,” he said.
Late Tuesday, a somber-looking special agent emerged from the FBI office in Miramar. The pain was evident on Piro’s face.
“This is a very difficult day for the FBI,” Piro said. He said the FBI’s sympathy is with the families of the fallen. Piro described the special bond created at the FBI as family and said the the FBI family was mourning and feeling the loss of the agents.
He said court-ordered search warrants are executed almost daily with the vast majority done without problems, in part because of the excessive research done ahead of time.
Each member of the FBI understands the sacrifice it take to protect the American people, Piro said. “They were valuable members of the FBI,” Piro said.
Staff writers Wayne K. Roustan, Brooke Baitinger, Robin Webb and Juan Ortega contributed to this report.
