MIAMI GARDENS, Florida (AP) – A beaten FBI agent was remembered for her strength, infectious laughter, love of family and dedication to protecting children during a memorial service.
Agents Laura Schwartzenberger (43) and Daniel Alfin (36) were shot dead on Tuesday while serving a warrant on a child pornography suspect at his home in Broward County. The service for Schwartzenberger was held at the Miami Dolphins’ soccer stadium. A separate service for Alfin will be held there Sunday.
“There are no good words to understand a loss like this, no good words for a day like Tuesday or like today,” said Christopher Wray, director of the FBI. “There’s a heavy feeling in our hearts and a burden that no one else exists, because there is nothing more devastating to the FBI family than the loss of an agent on duty.”
Schwartzenberger’s coffin was draped with an American flag while being brought to the field while bagpipers were playing. The flag was later folded into a triangle and presented to her family by Wray. She received a 21-gun salute during the service.
‘Laura has chosen to be part of a team that spends their days in darkness with the worst parts of humanity. It’s a job with high tension, high emotional spin and high burnout, ‘Wray said of the agent, originally from Pueblo, Colorado. Laura never stopped. She would talk to anyone and everyone about protecting children from predators online. ”
Federal government officials who attended the service with Wray were the acting U.S. Attorney General, Monty Wilkinson, and President Joe Biden’s advice for Homeland Security, Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
“During her 15 years as a special agent of the FBI, Laura Schwartzenberger was selfless, tireless, courageous and committed to protecting the most vulnerable of society: her children,” Wilkinson said in a statement.
Sherwood-Randall also praised Schwartzenberger’s service to the country and called her an American hero who dedicated her life to keeping our country, our citizens and especially our children safe. ‘
According to the FBI website, the shooting was one of the bloodiest days in FBI history in South Florida and among the deadliest nationally. The suspect David Huber (55) killed himself before he could be arrested.