Copyright 2023 Miami Shootout Crime Scene (Photo: By Miami-Dade Police Department) Upon autopsy of Michael Platt, forensics showed that despite being shot through the chest with a 9mm, the bullet stopped just short of the heart. These shots from Mireles hit Platt on both feet during which time Matix regained consciousness and joined Platt inside the car. A bullet-proof vest can be seen in the lower right corner of the photo, near blood-stained pavement at the foot of officer. Both of their wives died under suspicious circumstances, both seemed fairly normal to their Florida friends and neighbors, and neither had a criminal record. Thirty-five years ago, six (some would say seven or eight) FBI agents cornered two armed robbery suspects in their car in Miami, Florida. At a recent presentation for armed citizens and law enforcement, Mireles shared some from his personal experience with the group that included the following: The felons recognized they were being followed by the FBI and tried to evade them by making a series of turns during the vehicle chase prior to the shooting. The most thoroughly studied gunfight of the 20th Century occurred on 4/11/86 in the Dadeland area of Miami. In total, William Matix was killed after being shot a total of six times while Michael Plat was killed after being shot 12 times. The event sparked near-immediate changes to how the Bureau arms and trains every agent from the desk guys to SWAT agents, with local police forces nationwide following their lead. He is a military historian specializing in World War II and has written a few things, as he says, "here and there". I think its that important for those of us in the community, whether we are law enforcement, military, or just a yahoo like me who carries for protection. no long lead-times: sentinel ARV builds available, How place network investigations address micro hot spots of violent crime, While the FBI Miami shootout' is best known for its influence on the development of better ammunition for law enforcement, there are other important lessons to learn. The 1986 FBI Miami shootout occurred on April 11, 1986, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, U.S. (the specific area was incorporated as Pinecrest in 1996), when a small group of field agents for the FBI attempted to apprehend William Russell Matix and Michael Lee Platt, who were suspected of committing a series of violent crimes in and around the Miami metropolitan area. Miami Dade has been meticulously documented, but most people probably havent been exposed to the real details that explain why things went the way they did. A person with a revolver has to reload after shooting six times. Yet the most important rule for gun fighting around a car is incredibly simple: dont. A Freedom of Information and . But thats what they got. 7, except the shot was fired from directly in front of the car. Mireles awareness of the safety violation saved two lives that day, because the bullet that would have torn into his heart was stopped by the bones in his just-raised left arm, and the agent he had accidentally covered with his weapon was saved from being shot by the involuntary trigger press that might have followed after Mireles was shot in the chest. Nearly 34 years ago on April 11th, 1986 at 9:30am eastern, one of the most infamous shootouts in the history of the United States and the FBI took place in an unincorporated part of Dade County Florida. Request product info from top Ammunition . Two FBI agents were fatally shot and three agents were wounded in a shootout as they executed a search warrant in Sunrise, Florida, on Tuesday morning, the FBI said. There are lots of things people know, or think they know, about the Miami shootout. Shooting victim is taken by rescue personnel 4/11/86 in Suniland area of south Dade after a shootout where two . It is an odd discrepancy though. If I could change anything at all, Id implement the issuing of assault rifles to agents the year before.. While gelatin testing is commonplace, this was the first time that anyone had developed an objective methodology for the evaluation of law enforcement ammunition based upon real world shooting situations. Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual: To what extent does federal law preempt state law regarding public inspection of records? Benjamin P. Grogan FBI It was originally assumed that the agents had shot poorly and therefore allowed Platt and Matix to advance on them so effectively. It took years before Mireles was finally able to forgive himself, accept the fact that he had done all that was humanly possible and realize that his lost friends would understand that. (Drivers license photos). Despite multiple injuries, including a shot to the lung by Doves 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol that would later be credited with the bandits ultimate death, Platt climbed out of his car, which was pinned between bureau Buicks and a pair of civilian vehicles, and continued to fire. If everyone on the team had had semi-auto pistols or rifles, that gunfight wouldve lasted 15 seconds.. Mike is an Honor Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a graduate of the US Army Airborne School, and a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with over 26 years of service. Reloader Losers. Acting on a hunch, they picked this particular day to stage a bank stakeout, watching for a pair of unidentified bad guys in a stolen Monte Carlo on the off chance theyd show up. That is why the FBIs ballistic testing was so cutting edge and important for law enforcement across the country. These two had some great parents. His focus on using sound tactics helped him prevail. It is, after all, one of the most infamous incidents in FBI history. About a year after the shootout, the agents and Winters headed to Quantico, Virginia, to reenact the fight and conduct interviews for an FBI training video Firefight. Not long after, the FBIs interim director told a TV news reporter that the agents experience had made the Bureau think long and hard about its arming choices. Included in the collection is a Coca-Cola Friendship Card that revamps the brand's . Note: Works that are considered "public records" but were not created by a state or municipal government agency may be copyrighted by their author; the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution prevents state law from overriding the author's right to copyright protection that is granted by federal law. Miami Shootout, with Ed Mireles Jr., FBI Agent (ret) Ed Mireles Jr., retired FBI, joined The Protectors Podcast to talk about his career, including his recovery from being seriously wounded in one of the most famous shootouts in U.S. history. Platt then caught sight of Agent Mireles who was running across the street to join the gunfight. Before that, nothing had ever happened; its just a bunch of guys saying lets go kick crime in the face today. They were not ever taught how to ram cars. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Crime_scene_photo_of_the_FBI_Miami_shootout,_showing_suspect_and_agents%27_vehicles_and_battle_debris._Photo_by_Miami-Dade_PD.jpg&oldid=494546251, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Florida Department of State 286.031, Florida Statutes (2018). The "Miami Shootout" which left five other agents wounded and the two suspects dead the morning of April 11,1986 was a defining moment in the FBI's history. Over the years, the Bureau went through several different gun manufacturers assessing which gun platform best served the FBIs needs. (One piece of 3/4 AA fir plywood.) In the end, two FBI agents and the bank robbers were dead, and nine out of the 10 participants were shot. Similarly, detectives in Miami are reopening the inquiry into the death of Mr. Platt's first wife, who died of a shotgun wound to the head in December 1984. Circumstances can make it extremely difficult for officers to identify friend and foe in the chaos of an engagement, but every officer must know that they have positively identified their target as a threat before pulling the trigger. Below is a description of the armament that the FBI Agents engaged Matix and Platt with: In addition to their issued and backup weapons, Agents McNeill and Mireles had Remington 870 Shotguns in their vehicles. Im a subscriber to Pauls channel and have a deep respect for the knowledge he brings to the table. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. SCSA Competitor They are full of holes. The 1986 FBI Miami shootout, which saw a pair of criminals outgun a superior force of FBI agents, resulted in a revamping of firearms inventories and training across American law enforcement. The agents who were too late to the scene to help were significantly impacted by the event and felt tremendous guilt for not being there. I took my arm and tossed it over on the side, and picked up my shotgun and started focusing on survival, Mireles told RECOIL. (T-shirt, flannel shirt) Test 3: Heavy clothing at 10 feet. We have better weapons today, but were still having a crisis in law enforcement of officers losing gunfights around cars, he said. Police investigate the scene of a shootout in Miami on April 11, 1986, which left two FBI agents and two armed robbery suspects dead and five other agents wounded. In short, in Miami, in 1986, the FBI had a shootout with two bad guys and it was the biggest firefight in the FBI's recent history. Enter https://www.police1.com/ and click OK. Yet there are many other important lessons to learn from the fight. F*ck yeah, its cover. Replacing a magazine is easier and faster than reloading a revolver. Within four years a blink of the eye by bureaucracy standards the FBI was fielding the Smith & Wesson 1076 in a move from 9mm to 10mm rounds, and sparking many local police forces to do the same. This may be called Tools or use an icon like the cog. Agent Edmundo Mireles red jacket and shotgun as well as blood from the agents and perps were left behind on the scene when the shootout was over. The study also proved something many law enforcement agencies have known: The expansion of hollow point bullets is unreliable. During the firefight, FBI Special Agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed, while five other agents were wounded. Agents on the scene had 12-gauge shotguns, Smith & Wesson Model 459 9mm pistols, and Smith & Wesson Military and Police .357 Magnum revolvers shooting .38 Special +P. If weapons are the hardware of law enforcement, tactics are the software, Petty says and youve got to have both. It was at this point that the shooting began between 8 agents and the 2 suspects. POD-209275, Home Magazine Issue 39 Shootout in Miami, This article originally appeared in RECOIL Issue 39, Photos by FBI, Miami-Dade Police Department. Five-Minute Event, 30-Year Analysis In the immediate aftermath, one fact was glaringly clear: the Miami Shootout didnt go well. He has been through the evidence and had time to reflect on it and reach some conclusions, which he shares with us in the video. April 25, 1986. A full, first-hand account by the man who ended the fight is available here. Two Special Agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan died in the line of duty. He also addresses the many what ifs that inevitably spring up when people who talk about such things discuss the potentialities of violent encounters since Miami Dade featured several of those. Schwartzenberger, 43, had been with the FBI since 2005, and leaves behind a . The revolvers were limited to six rounds, while the pistols had 14-round magazines. These are all addressed. Updated: Jan 15, 2023 / 10:43 PM EST. Large caliber handgun rounds were .357 magnum. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. (Two pieces of 20-gauge hot-rolled steel spaced 3 apart). Matix got off as many as three shots with his shotgun, and injured Special Agent Richard Manauzzi before he was shot by Supervisor Gordon McNeil and temporarily sidelined. Although Mireles had his badge displayed in the middle of his chest, the plain clothes worn by him and his fellow agents made it more difficult for responding patrol officers from Metro-Dade PD to identify the agents as law enforcement. It is speculated that this hit would stop 90 to 98 percent of most people. While the combined effects of bleeding out and survival stress induced a strong case of tunnel vision in the closing moments of the gunfight, his sight picture was nice and clear as it moved between the faces of the two felons and steered his bullets true to stop the threat. FBI-Miami Shootout Crime Scene. 4/11/86 MIAMI, FL PART 3 OF 4 BUFILE: 89-6047. (Agents) Gordon (McNeill) and Jake (Hanlon) both stated that they felt the most vulnerable when they ran out of ammo and had to reload. The test events conducted were as follows: Test 1: Bare gelatin at 10 feet, control test. The 1986 FBI Miami shootout was a gun battle that occurred on April 11, 1986, in an unincorporated region of Dade County in South Florida (renamed Miami-Dade in 1997) between eight FBI agents and two serial bank robbers. This led the FBI transition from revolvers to high capacity pistols. We talk a lot about gun safety during training, but your safety habits are no less important in a gunfight. In case law, Microdecisions, Inc. v. Skinner889 So. An officer who is experiencing a strong physiological response to stress may have a hard time moving from a target focus to a front sight focus, but if he can gain his composure, it will enhance his ability to use his sights and deliver shots with precision, as Mireles did. When the chase abruptly terminated in a vehicle crash and the gunfight began, responding FBI and Metro-Dade PD units didnt know where to find their brothers, and it took several valuable minutes for them to locate the scene. Once again, Mireles credits the support of his family and peers for helping him to eventually come to this peace. It was the deadliest day in California law enforcement history. Instead, Matix and Platts weapons, in orange, went against agents five revolvers, three pistols, and two shotguns. But the higher the crash safety rating, the better the vehicle is going to perform.. One-hundred and fifty shots were fired during the incident. Platt opened fire and hit Mireles in his left forearm disabling it. The photo shows all the guns of all the agents patrolling Miami looking for the robbers, not just the guns of the agents involved in the shootout. Its what you have until you can work to something better. he said. In that regard, rifles are better than handguns because rifles fire larger caliber rounds at higher velocity. Ed Mireles and his wife Liz (also a retired FBI Special Agent) for sharing their powerful story with us here at Police1. All rights reserved. A Trans Am can be seen to the left (Photo FBI). Most of the agents werent wearing body armor, but even if they had been, tests reveal the vests issued to Agent personnel would not stop the .223-caliber rounds that were fired by Michael Lee Platt, the report states. A Bureau investigation into the fight completed just over one month later lays out each step of that day, with details down to every shot fired. It has been a long time since I retired, so maybe bullet manufactures have improved their rounds to surpass the original test results. Unless agents were part of a SWAT unit, they simply werent authorized to carry semiautomatic weapons, Mireles said. Shooting through car doors and front windshield glass was telling. If you look at a standard marked police car, you may see a shotgun rack in between the front seats of the car. A hard-front sight focus is important when precision fire is required, and many officers have reported achieving this in gunfights and making good hits. That may happen for some officers experiencing high levels of sympathetic nervous system arousal, but it wasnt Ed Mireles experience. FBI Fun and Games! Weve learned after 34 years of cop-ing that theres a reason that a lot of departments have a very strict or no pursue policy, because the juice isnt worth the squeeze., If nothing else, more than 30 years of dissecting the Miami Shootout has shown an endless appetite for what-ifs over that day. By 9:45 a.m. two bank robbers and two agents were dead, five agents had been seriously injured, and everything the FBI knew about arming agents and shooting in and around cars was called into question. Later in 1988, the FBI hosted the Wound Ballistics Seminar/Workshop. Very early in the Miami gun battle, (Agent) Jerry Dove fired a bullet that stopped about two inches short of (bank robber Michael) Platt's heart. The numbers meant that every two agents would have a shotgun or MP-5 with them in case they needed more firepower. And while it explicitly doesnt assign blame this document contains neither recommendations or conclusions of the FBI it does over and over again lay out the agents key problem: firepower. To Petty, the biggest takeaway from the Miami Shootout is that the incident didnt have to happen at all. In the history of the FBI, 36 agents have been killed in adversarial action. Plus this would mark the car as a target for a break-in to take the weapon. Matix and Platt carried superior armament to the FBI agents and also had military arms training. By studying natural human reaction during vehicle-involved shootings, for example, he helps students understand how to use cars for both cover and concealment. Mireles did this unconsciously as an automatic habit that was the byproduct of disciplined training. Shootings like the Miami Dade FBI shootout are interesting to study to get a glimpse into the doctrines and methods used by law enforcement throughout the history of our country. They are improvising.. Many small people dont have large hands. Paul reduces the FBIs performance in the shootout to two major failures, which I will not reveal because I believe Pauls buildup is necessary for the lessons to be realized. A person with a fifteen-shot pistol can keep shooting while the revolver has to be reloaded. The hardware only gets you so far. Shooting was done from a 15 angle to simulate the position of an officer at the left front (drivers side) of an automobile. Just wanted to read about the Miami Shoot!!! The FBI Miami shootout was a gun battle that occurred on 11 April 1986 in Miami, Florida between eight Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and two serial bank robbers. After a furious four-minute shootout in which 145 total rounds were fired, the two bad guys were killed, but so were two agents, while the others were all wounded. SHOT 2023: Safariland SafariVault Duty Holsters, SHOT 2023: Primary Weapons Systems BDE Suppressor, The Wonderful World of the Pistol Caliber AK, Bass Reeves: Deputy U.S. The infamous 1986 Miami Shootout forever changed law enforcement training, equipment and tactics. His experience provides a critical lesson for todays officers to take advantage of TECC training opportunities, and to carry a suitable individual first aid kit (IFAK) on duty. Paul barely mentions this but, as we know now, that change was a solution looking for a problem, though it was not necessarily evident at the time. He knows he can thank it for his current position as a contract instructor in vehicle-based tactics for both the FBI and other local police departments. Pauls discussion of the lessons learned from that shooting, and the training they inspired, are very interesting and pertinent to the Miami Dade incident sixteen years later. The firefight claimed the lives of Special Agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan. For example, Coca-Cola partnered with the avatar content company Tafi to curate a virtual wearable and collectible line for the brand's first ever NFT. Most of the agents were not carrying 9mm pistols but instead a mix of .357 Magnums and .38 Special revolvers. Other agents elsewhere on the stakeout had more firepower, but they didnt get there in time, with one agent missing the initial radio call because he had stopped to pee. After this, Platt attempted to get away by entering Grogan and Doves car but was shot by the injured Agent Mireles who shot Platt with his Remington 870 shotgun using only one arm. From start to finish, the whole event lasted a mere five minutes. The fight was over. Jerrys shot went through Platts right arm, severing his brachial artery, moving up and into the left side of his chest, traversing through his right lung, and stopping about two inches from his heart. The Ultimate Firearms Destination for the Gun Lifestyle, 2023 Recoil Magazine No officer wants to shoot an innocent citizen or officer by mistake. Miller and Brock Boeser scored in regulation for the Canucks, who went 1-4-0 in five road games. One-hundred and fifty shots were fired during the incident. Under stress, we revert to our habits make sure you program good ones into your brain. You need to pay for the officers killed and injured. One of the results was the new .40 Smith & Wesson round, which Glock quickly incorporated into a new semi-automatic pistolthe Glock 22. The dispatchers who heard the terror unfold on the radio and felt powerless to stop it also battled with significant emotional distress. (T-shirt, flannel shirt, 10 oz. He worked the angles and calculated where he needed to aim on the felons escape car to prevent his buckshot from getting deflected by the compound angles of the windshield. The firefight claimed the lives of Special Agents Jerry L. Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan. The crime scene in Dade county after the shootout. That one saw four California Highway Patrolmen killed by two suspects who got away before being captured later. 2018). couldnt figure out how to stop the completely. Book details & editions. 02:14. You teach hate, this is what you get. The man who stopped the end the bloody incidentSpecial Agent Edmundo Mireleschronicled the events in his masterfully written book FBI Miami Firefight: Five Minutes that Changed the Bureau. . Two ruthless serial bank robbers attract the attention of the FBI, which leads to a deadly shootout. Below is a brief description of some of the preceding robberies attributed to Matix and Platt. So you have guys who are trying to figure something out on the fly. Mireles points out that his wife, Liz, and his soon-to-be-born children were key to his successful recovery. Ethan Bear, J.T. The stress of the incident caused temporal distortion, giving Mireles the sense that things were happening in slow motion. Propping his Mini-14 against his uninjured left shoulder, he continued to engage the agents. Dove, Grogan, and six other agents . Mireles reports that discussing the shooting and its lasting emotional and physical effects with the other agents who were there was a great help. These two had some great parents. That 158-grain hollow point is a good round if it hits the person but it had minimal penetration.. The FBI designed a gun rack that was secure and out of sight yet still accessible to the agents in the front seat. Twice (once in the main text and once in the firepower photo caption), the article notes the agents had five revolvers, yet the photo poses *six* revolvers in FBI firepower. .45, .44 magnum. Recovered FBI documents reveal four of the preceding robberies showing that these activities were not a one-off event but rather a perhaps pathological series of robberies/murders over the course of several months. The 1986 FBI Miami shootout between eight FBI agents and two serial bank robbers was the . Platt returned fire with the Mini-14 and struck McNeill. It was hoped that these experts could come to a consensus as to how best to stop a human target.. The stocky, former Marine is pushed out of the hospital in a wheelchair by a nurse, his left . The FBIs firepower, in blue, wouldve been much greater had the entire collection of agents on area stakeouts that day arrived at the shootout. The following agencies are permitted to claim copyright (as well as trademarks) and any works of these agencies should be assumed to be copyrighted without clear evidence to the contrary: Works by defunct state agencies may be copyrighted if these rights were transferred to a new or different agency (note that legislation transferring such right may not have been codified into Florida Statutes). And although the gunfight has now been parsed, dissected, and examined in law enforcement classrooms for decades, one overwhelming truth emerges: It never really had to happen to begin with. Mike Wood is the son of a 30-year California Highway Patrolman and the author of "Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis," the highly-acclaimed study of the 1970 California Highway Patrol gunfight in Newhall, California.
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