During the same period, 630 police officers from state, local, tribal and other federal agencies died from gunshot wounds, according to the National Fund Encience Memorial Fund.
Why do most U.S. law enforcement shootings take place outside the FBI, which calls itself ‘one of the world’s largest security and crime-fighting forces’?
The answers are expected: almost 90% of the country’s law enforcers serve in local and state police forces. They make more arrests. It is much more likely to encounter potential violent suspects on a daily basis – whether it is for a traffic stop, domestic violence or another emergency.
But there are other factors that could explain why fewer agents are dying from gunfire, law enforcement experts and former agents say.
FBI agents are more likely to build cases incrementally than to respond to a 911 call. They often work in task teams with many agencies and generally have more time to plan search warrants and secure execution. They argue a case against an individual and weigh the danger he or she may pose. All of this reduces the likelihood that they will pull or pull a gun.
Yet the work is dangerous and plans could end in tragedy, as happened Tuesday when Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger and other agents and local police officers attempted to carry out a search warrant in an apartment in Sunrise, Florida, where the suspect is blocked. He too died, although the circumstances were not disclosed.
According to Florida, the authorities have committed alleged violent crimes against children – the most vulnerable in society. Federal convictions for such crimes could lead to long prison sentences and some suspects feel they could lose a lot, experts say.
“It could be people who think to themselves that they have big, complicated, important lives and that they have a deceptive appearance,” said Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI and a current CNN senior law enforcement analyst.
A strategic versus tactical approach follows
Although all law enforcement work is inherently dangerous, there are differences in the scenarios that FBI agents and local officials usually face.
The latter’s “work is more tactical. They often do not have a plan when they get on their shift, and do not know what their next call will be,” says James Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police. “Circumstances are often more volatile, and he or she cannot control the circumstances.” They often need to be in a reactive mode.
On the other hand, federal agents are often involved in complex cases, including cyber-terrorism, domestic terrorism, online fraud, and crimes against children, such as pornography and trafficking.
They are proactive while gathering evidence, following clues and tips, and contacting other law enforcement agencies.
Local police departments also have investigators, but the FBI’s feature is deep searches for individuals who can be anywhere – from the street to a remote hideout abroad.
“You have the ability to do your homework before an operation,” said Lazaro “Larry” Cosme, national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Association. “That does not mean it will be a foolish operation.”
FBI agents have an exact plan and contingencies if they pull in a suspect, experts say. And they usually determine the time and place of the search or arrest. Often they pull in with an overwhelming force.
“They usually control the environment wherever they go,” says Josh Campbell, CNN security correspondent and a former FBI agent. “It is rare for officers to fire their weapons and get gunshots.”
But sometimes an operation encounters the unknown. There will never be a ‘complete understanding of every threat’, McCabe says.
Agents try to reduce the risk of armed confrontation
Special agents Alfin (36) and Schwartzenberger (43) are remembered for their efforts to fight child sex offenses. They worked at the FBI’s office in Miami in a unit that investigates online predators, child pornography, sexual abuse, kidnapping and violent attacks.
An hour before dawn, they and other officers went to a luxury apartment in Sunrise to serve an investigation.
Such an operation involves local police blocking streets and adding legitimacy, Campbell says.
Going so early has benefits for law enforcement: it usually has the element of surprise. The subject is perhaps rough. He or she may have had little time to formulate resistance. The aim is to defuse the situation.
“Overall, this will lead to a lower number of violent confrontations,” Pasco says.
It is not known if the FBI knew the suspect in Sunrise had weapons. Details of what led to the gunfire were not available. The FBI did not release a report on what happened during the shootout.
The gunman opened fire and Alfin and Schwartzenberger were killed; three agents were wounded. Two were taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and later released. The third agent was treated at the scene.
Experts and the FBI usually say that serving warrants ends without incident. “We do a lot of these warrants all over the country on a daily basis,” McCabe said.
But with the plethora of child pornography, “we are getting more people responding violently or unpredictably to a search warrant,” he says.
1986 firefighting led to more firepower, training
The last agent shot dead before Alfin and Schwartzenberger was Special Agent Samuel S. Hicks, who was killed in 2008 when he wanted to serve a warrant in a drug deal in a house near Pittsburgh.
Most of those listed by the end of the Wall of Honor have died from illnesses related to the response to the 9/11 attacks.
All of this was aimed at protecting the health and lives of agents.
Law enforcement officers died last year from numerous causes, including vehicle accidents, heart attacks and gunshots. But more died from Covid-19 than all other causes combined, with 145 out of the 264 deaths attributed to the virus, according to the National Fund Encience Memorial Fund.
“Our chosen profession is full of danger”
The FBI is investigating what happened in Florida.
“You owe it to the patriots who gave their lives” to see if lessons can be learned or ways agents can better protect themselves, McCabe said.
The loss of two dedicated agents was a gut for the bureau. Law enforcers and others are in mourning.
William Beller, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told CNN on Wednesday: “We are all brothers and sisters in law enforcement.” He overcame with emotion and said, ‘All I know is that I could embrace my children today,’ and walked away in tears.
Services for the fallen agents took place over the weekend at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
It’s important for people to know that it’s exciting to be an FBI agent, but that it’s an incredibly hard and dangerous job, McCabe says.
“Such moments bring reality to them in a very complicated way,” he says. “It will not deter them. They will not surrender their guns tomorrow.”
CNN’s Eric Levenson, Travis Caldwell, Rosa Flores, Steve Almasy, Jason Hanna, Harmeet Kaur and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.