FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and former director William Webster were among several hundred law enforcement folks who gathered in North Miami Beach Monday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of one of the most horrific events in the agency’s history that ended with two agents dead and another five wounded, the Associated Press reported.
The incident happened in Miami when William Webster headed up the FBI, and resulted in the agency using more powerful weapons and taking other action to better prepare agents for potentially deadly confrontations, AP reported. Agents Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry Dove were killed.
Others attending the ceremony included retired agent John F. Hanlon Jr. who was wounded in the incident, AP reported.
“I’m very, very proud of what we did that day. We all did our duty. And we did the best we could,” Hanlon said, according to the AP. “They laid down their lives gallantly for their country.”
On April 11, 1986, the FBI agents tracked down two bank robbers who were responsible for shooting several guards. They forced the robbers in a car to pull over.
The robbers opened fire with a shotgun and a .223-cal. Ruger Mini-14 rifle, “which packed more power and carried more ammunition than anything the agents had,” AP reported. “Some had semiautomatic handguns and one had a 12-gauge shotgun, but many only were armed only with difficult-to-reload revolvers. Only two wore body armor, and even that wasn’t strong enough to stop the rifle’s rounds.”
Five other agents were shot and wounded including Edmundo Mireles Jr., who shot and killed both suspects, AP reported.
Mueller described the shootout as “one of the most difficult and dangerous days in the history of the bureau,” AP reported.
Since 1925, 36 FBI agents have been killed in the line of duty, AP reported.
