The Department of Justice confirmed the identities of two FBI agents who were shot and killed in the line of duty while executing a search warrant in Sunrise, Florida.
“Tragically, the FBI lost two of our own today,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
They were identified as special agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger.
Three other FBI agents were also “wounded while executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in a crimes against children investigation in Sunrise, Florida,” the agency said.
Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the following statement: “We mourn the tragic loss of two of our FBI colleagues who were killed today in the line of duty … Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones and with their three colleagues who were shot in today’s devastating events. On this dark day, we pay tribute to the brave men and women of the FBI who put their lives on the line every day in support of our mission. We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by these special agents.”
Two of the agents who were injured were hospitalized in stable condition, the FBI said, adding that the third didn’t require hospitalization.
The agents were attempting to serve a search warrant for a child pornography case involving a suspect who barricaded himself in a home. Photos and video footage from the scene prompted law enforcement officials to shut down a main road in the area, while the Sunrise Police Department called on residents nearby to stay in their homes.
“Collectively, our law enforcement community across the nation hangs their heads in sadness and sorrow today,” Sunrise Mayor Michael J. Ryan said in a statement.
“There is much we do not know. It is near impossible to comprehend why this would happen,” Ryan said, reported the Wall Street Journal.
According to the FBI’s Wall of Honor, there were several other shootings throughout the FBI’s history that led to the deaths of agents.
Notably, the infamous shootout in Miami in 1986 claimed the lives of FBI agents Ben Grogan and Jerry Dove during a gunfight with two heavily armed suspects. In the aftermath, the federal agency equipped its agents with semi-automatic handguns instead of revolvers and trained agents’ firearms training.
And in 2008, an FBI agent was fatally shot on duty, the FBI said.
