SUNRISE, Fla. — The FBI has identified the two agents who were shot and killed serving a search warrant in Sunrise on Tuesday morning in one of the deadliest incidents in the history of the bureau.
Those killed were Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, according to a statement from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who said they were “executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in a crimes against children investigation in Sunrise, Florida.”
Three other agents were wounded in the incident, two of them requiring hospitalization. They were in stable condition Tuesday afternoon, Wray said. The third injured agent did not require hospitalization.
“Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger exemplified heroism today in defense of their country,” Wray said. “The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for their bravery.”
The suspected shooter also is dead, according to the FBI.
It took place before 6 a.m. in Sunrise, at the Water Trace Apartments, where the suspected shooter had barricaded himself for much of the morning, inside a residence located at 10100 Reflections Boulevard West, between North Nob Hill Road and Hiatus Road.
It was not clear Tuesday afternoon whether the suspect was killed or took his own life.
Tuesday’s shooting is the worst for the bureau since 1986.
The last time two FBI agents were 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.
Brian O’Hare, president of the FBI Agents Association, said Tuesday’s shooting showed the dangers that agents face in the line of duty.
“These agents were working to protect the most vulnerable in our society,” O’Hare said. “FBI special agents risk their lives to protect our country, and the loss of these agents is devastating to the entire FBI community and to our country.”
On Tuesday paramedics were called to the scene to attend to the wounded, and Fort Lauderdale police sent a small SWAT contingency team to Sunrise to assist with the situation, said Fort Lauderdale police spokesperson Casey Liening.
According to emergency radio dispatches, the incident began to unfold as law enforcement gathered at the scene before dawn. At 5:44 a.m., Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue got its first report of shots being fired with multiple victims. Two minutes later, someone at the scene got on a police radio to report five shooting victims, including an agent shot in the leg.
One neighbor, who declined to be named, described the chaos.
“All we heard was shots, bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam,” he 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.”
Neighbors said the suspect was a nuisance who had been reported to the police and to the homeowners association.
Residents of the area surrounding Tuesday morning’s shooting spent the morning dealing with the aftermath, navigating traffic diversions while still processing the tragic news.
Zoraida Fortich, who live 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.
Reporters Wayne K. Roustan, Eileen Kelley and Austen Erblat contributed to this report from Sunrise.
