2 FBI agents die in shootout in Florida
Miami, Feb 2 (efe-epa).- Two FBI agents were killed and three others wounded Tuesday when they tried to search the South Florida home of a suspect in a case involving violence against children, the federal law enforcement agency said.
The suspect is also dead, the FBI said.
Two of the three injured agents were taken to a hospital in stable condition, according to a brief FBI statement about the pre-dawn gunfight at an apartment complex in Sunrise, a city of 84,000 people west of Fort Lauderdale.
“A team of law enforcement officers were there to execute a federal court-ordered search warrant in furtherance of a violent crimes against children case,” the FBI said in a statement.
Sources told Miami television stations NBC6 and Local 10 that the suspect took his own life.
Efe saw vehicles and personnel from the Sunrise Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies at the scene, which remained cordoned off for hours.
Media outlets broadcast images of a substantial concentration of law enforcement at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, where two of the injured agents were being treated.
The FBI director, Christopher Wray, identified the agents killed in the incident as Dan Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger, both assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
“Every day, FBI special agents put themselves in harm’s way to keep the American people safe. Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger exemplified heroism today in defense of their country. The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for their bravery,” Wray said in a statement.
The third agent injured in the confrontation did not require hospitalization, the FBI director said.
The agents who went to the home in Sunrise planned to confiscate the suspect’s computer and other evidence as part of a case led by federal prosecutors in Fort Lauderdale.
Agents were able to locate the suspect after getting the computer’s internet protocol address from the internet service provider.
Tuesday marks the deadliest day for the FBI since April 11, 1986, when two agents were killed and five others wounded in a shootout with suspected armed robbers in Miami. EFE
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