1986 FBI Miami shootout

On April 11, 1986, a shootout occurred between field agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two armed men in what is now Pinecrest, Miami-Dade County, Florida. The two men, former U.S. Army servicemen Michael Lee Platt and William Russell Matix, were suspected of committing a series of violent crimes, mostly bank robberies, in and around the Miami metropolitan area.

Although they had partially surrounded the suspects after maneuvering them off a local road, the agents involved quickly found their firepower was outmatched by the weapons which Platt and Matix had in their vehicle. During the shootout which ensued, Platt in particular was able to repeatedly return fire despite sustaining multiple hits. Two Special Agents—Benjamin Grogan and Jerry Dove—were shot and killed, while five other agents were injured by gunfire. The shootout ended when both Platt and Matix were killed while attempting to flee the scene.

The incident is infamous as one of the most violent episodes in the history of the FBI and is often studied in law enforcement training. The scale of the shootout led to the introduction of more effective handguns, primarily switching from revolvers to semi-automatics, in the FBI and many police departments around the United States.

Background

Suspects

Michael Lee Platt (February 3, 1954 – April 11, 1986) and William Russell Matix (June 25, 1951 – April 11, 1986) met while serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Platt enlisted in the Army on June 27, 1972, as an infantryman. While in basic training, Platt applied for Army Airborne Ranger Training and subsequently entered the United States Army Air Assault School at Fort Campbell, upon completion of which he was assigned to the Military Police Unit. It was in this unit that he met and served with Matix. This is also where he met his first wife, Regina Lylen, whom he married in 1975.

Platt was honorably discharged in 1979, after which he moved to Florida with his wife and started a landscaping business called ''Blade Cutters'' with his brother, Tim. By December 1984, Platt and his wife had three children.

Matix first served in the U.S. Marine Corps, working as a cook ( MOS 3371) in the officers' mess, and was stationed in Hawaii and Okinawa from April 1970 to March 1971 and April 1971 to March 1972 respectively, achieving the rank of Sergeant. He was honorably discharged on July 7, 1972. More than a year later, on August 10, 1973, Matix enlisted in the Army, serving with the military police under the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell. He served as a Military Police Officer and Squad Leader; a Guard Supervisor for the Post Stockade; and finally, a Patrol Supervisor, before being honorably discharged on August 9, 1976.

Both men's former wives had died under violent circumstances. Matix's wife, Patricia Mary ( Buchanich) Matix, and a female co-worker, Joyce McFadden, both cancer researchers, were stabbed to death on December 30, 1983, at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Their bodies were found in the hospital laboratory, having been bound and gagged before the killer/s stabbed them multiple times in the chest and neck. Matix was a suspect in the murders but was never charged. He subsequently collected a $350,000 life insurance policy and later filed a $3 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Riverside Methodist Hospital.

After his wife's death, Matix and his infant daughter Melissa moved to Florida at Platt's urging. Matix briefly worked at ''Blade Cutters'', but he and Platt eventually left to start their own landscaping business called ''Yankee Clipper Tree Trimming Service''. According to the pastor of the Riverside Baptist Church where Matix regularly attended services, Matix had attempted to date a number of women in the congregation, stating that he used the church "the same way some people would use a singles bar." In May 1985, Matix married Christy Lou Horne, who moved out of the house two months later when Matix became enraged after learning she was pregnant. Horne would give birth to their son after Matix's death.

On December 21, 1984, Platt's wife, Regina, was found dead from a single shotgun blast to the mouth. Her death was ruled a suicide. Platt reportedly told investigators that he suspected Matix had carried on an affair with his wife. Just several weeks later, Platt married his second wife, Brenda Horne. The family subsequently moved to a luxury housing development, not far from where the later shootout would take place.

Crime spree

Before embarking on their crime spree, neither Platt nor Matix had a criminal record. At the time of the shootout, Platt's second wife, Brenda, claimed to have had no idea that her husband and his friend were armed robbers. Almost all of their robberies occurred on or near the South Dixie Highway (U.S. Route 1) in the southern Miami metropolitan area. The following are the crimes that are largely attributed to the two men:

* On October 4, 1985, Platt and Matix murdered 25-year-old Emilio Briel while he was target shooting at a rock pit in the Florida Everglades. The pair stole Briel's car, a gold 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and used it to commit several robberies. Briel's remains were found in March 1986 but not identified until May.
* On October 9, 1985, five days after killing Briel, Platt and Matix attempted to rob a Loomis armored van outside of a Steak and Ale restaurant in the 9000 block of Southwest 97th Avenue. They managed to steal a duffel bag containing $2,825 from a courier who was walking back to the armored van, but were unable to break into the van itself as the driver sped off before the robbers could steal the over $400,000 inside.
* On October 16, 1985, Platt and Matix attempted to rob a Wells Fargo armored van that was servicing a Winn-Dixie supermarket at 7930 Southwest 104th Street. After ordering him to freeze, one of the pair shot a courier named Jose Sanchez in the leg with a shotgun while the other fired a rifle and possibly a handgun from the getaway vehicle. Two other guards returned fire, but neither Platt nor Matix was wounded. No money was taken in the botched robbery. Sanchez survived the shooting and would make a full recovery.
* On October 17, 1985, Platt and Matix attempted to rob a Loomis armored van outside of a Dalts American Grill restaurant at 11641 Southwest 88th Street. The courier — the same one involved in the October 9 robbery — saw the two robbers as he was walking back to the armored van, drew his revolver, and opened fire. The robbers did not fire back and immediately fled the scene.
* On November 8, 1985, two robberies occurred within 90 minutes of each other. The first robbery happened at a Florida National Bank branch at 14801 South Dixie Highway, where Platt and Matix stole a bag containing $10,000 from a bank teller. A police officer briefly tailed them as they left the bank and managed to get the license plate number of the getaway vehicle. The second robbery happened at the Professional Savings Bank at 13100 South Dixie Highway, where the robbers stole $41,469 in three Wells Fargo money bags that had been delivered that morning.
* On January 10, 1986, Platt and Matix shot a Brinks Company courier as he opened the back door of his armored van at a Barnett Bank branch at 13593 South Dixie Highway. The courier was shot once in the back with a shotgun and twice more with a .223-caliber rifle, described by witnesses as an AR-15 or M16-style rifle, as he laid on the ground. Afterwards, the robbers escaped with $54,000 in Briel's Chevrolet Monte Carlo. A civilian followed them to the parking lot of a nearby Burger King restaurant, where he saw the two men transferring the money and guns to a white Ford F-150 pickup truck. The courier survived the shooting but was left with over 100 shotgun pellets in his body.
* On March 12, 1986, Platt and Matix robbed and shot 30-year-old Jose Collazo as he was target shooting at a rock pit in the Florida Everglades, in an almost identical manner to Briel's killing; in fact, Collazo was shot not far from where Briel was murdered. According to Collazo, who survived the shooting, the two men arrived in a white Ford F-150 pickup truck and held him at gunpoint, taking the keys to Collazo's black 1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo before shooting him three times in the back, arm, and head. Collazo played dead as the gunmen drove away in the F-150 and Monte Carlo, before walking three miles to get help.
* On March 19, 1986, one week after shooting Collazo, Platt and Matix robbed a Barnett Bank branch, the same one that was targeted in the January 10 robbery, and stole $8,338 before fleeing in Collazo's Monte Carlo.
The robbers were nicknamed the "Unknown Gang" by the C-1 Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Miami office, which was formed for the sole purpose of combatting bank robberies in Miami. While they did not know of the suspects' identities, the C-1 Division were able to establish a pattern in the Unknown Gang's robberies, noting that the men always committed the robberies on Fridays when the armored vans made their drop-offs. C-1 concluded that the robbers would likely commit another robbery on Friday, April 11, 1986.

Events

Stakeout and attempted traffic stop

At 8:45 a.m. on April 11, 1986, a team of undercover FBI agents led by Special Agent Gordon McNeill assembled at a Home Depot to initiate a "rolling stakeout" in search of Collazo's Monte Carlo, acting on a hunch that the robbers would attempt a robbery that morning. Of the fourteen agents who participated in the stakeout, eight of them in five unmarked cars were involved in the shootout, and were deployed as follows:

* 44-year-old Supervisory Special Agent Gordon McNeill (a 20-year veteran)
* 43-year-old Special Agent Richard Manauzzi (a 15-year veteran)
* 52-year-old Special Agent Benjamin Grogan (a 25-year veteran), with 30-year-old Special Agent Jerry Dove (a 4-year veteran)
* 33-year-old Special Agent Edmundo Mireles Jr. (a 7-year veteran), with 48-year-old Special Agent John Hanlon (a 23-year veteran)
* 27-year-old Special Agent Gilbert Orrantia (a 4-year veteran), with 43-year-old Special Agent Ronald Risner (a 22-year veteran).
Of the agents involved, two had Remington 870 shotguns in their vehicles (McNeill and Mireles), three were armed with Smith & Wesson Model 459 9mm semi-automatic pistols (Dove, Grogan, and Risner), and the rest were armed with Smith & Wesson revolvers; two had .357 Magnums and five had .38 Specials. Two of the agents had backup .38 Special revolvers (Hanlon and Risner), which they both used during the shootout.

At around 9:30 a.m., agents Grogan and Dove were staking out a bank at the Barnett Shopping Center when they spotted the Monte Carlo, driven by Matix, and began to follow it after confirming that it was indeed Collazo's vehicle. Two other unmarked cars containing Hanlon, Mireles, and Manauzzi joined them, and eventually an attempt was made to conduct a traffic stop after the vehicles turned onto Southwest 82nd Avenue in the then-unincorporated village of Pinecrest.

Grogan pulled alongside the Monte Carlo as it drove south, while Hanlon and Manauzzi in the two other vehicles followed close behind, in an attempt to force Matix to pull over. Matix sped up and slammed into Grogan, who drove ahead in order to block the suspects' escape. Hanlon then rammed into Matix from behind, causing Matix to lose control of his vehicle, which spun around and was now facing the opposite direction from where the vehicles were driving. Hanlon also lost control of his vehicle in the collision and crashed into the wall of a substation located on the opposite side of the street. The Monte Carlo, now facing north, attempted to drive away before being rammed by Manauzzi. This collision sent the Monte Carlo nose first into a tree in a small parking area in front of a house at 12201 Southwest 82nd Avenue, pinned between a parked Oldsmobile Cutlass on its passenger side and Manauzzi's car on the driver side.

The collisions that forced the suspects off the road caused some unforeseen problems for the agents, as the FBI vehicles sustained damage from the heavier, older car driven by Matix. Just prior to ramming the Monte Carlo, Manauzzi had pulled out his service revolver and placed it on the seat in anticipation of a shootout, but the force of the collision flung open his door, and according to reports, his weapon either went flying out the door or was thrown to the floor. Hanlon also lost his .357 Magnum service revolver during the initial collision, though he was still able to fight with his Smith & Wesson Model 36 backup weapon. The collision also knocked off Grogan's glasses, and there is speculation his vision was so bad that he was unable to see clearly enough to be effective, a claim disputed by the FBI's medical director, who stated that Grogan's vision was "not that bad".

Shootout

Platt, in the passenger seat of the Monte Carlo, brought up a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle and opened fire at Manauzzi's car. Manauzzi was wounded in the head and back by bullet fragments as he stumbled out of his car. He was unable to recover his revolver and, as he was being shot at by Platt, took cover behind a nearby wall for the remainder of the gunfight.

Grogan is credited with landing the first hit of the gunfight, wounding Matix in the forearm as he leaned out of the Monte Carlo and aimed his Smith & Wesson Model 3000 shotgun at Grogan and Dove. McNeill, who had been driving in the opposite direction but turned around to catch up with the other agents, fired over the hood of Manauzzi's car but was wounded by return fire from Platt. Platt then fired his rifle at Mireles, who was running across the street to join the fight, severely wounding the agent in his left forearm. Platt then pulled back from the window, giving Matix opportunity to fire. Due to collision damage, Matix could only open his door partially, and fired one shotgun blast at Grogan and Dove, striking their vehicle. Matix was then shot in the right forearm. McNeill returned fire with six shots from his revolver, hitting Matix with two rounds in the head and neck. Matix was apparently knocked unconscious by the hits and fired no more rounds. McNeill was then shot in the hand by Platt and, due to his wound and blood in his revolver's chambers, could not reload.

Platt then climbed out of the passenger side car window, having to climb over the hood of the Cutlass that the Monte Carlo was pinned against. As he did so, one of Dove's bullets passed through his right upper arm and struck his chest, stopping an inch away from his heart. The autopsy found that Platt's right lung had collapsed and his chest cavity contained 1.3 liters of blood ( hemothorax), suggesting damage to the main blood vessels of the right lung. Of his many gunshot wounds, this wound was the primary one responsible for Platt's eventual death. Platt was then shot again in the right thigh and left foot, probably by Dove.

Platt chose a position by the passenger side front fender of the Cutlass. He fired a .357 Magnum revolver at agents Risner and Orrantia, who arrived in the middle of the shootout and provided covering fire for the other agents, and was shot a fourth time when turning to fire at Hanlon (who had moved up to Grogan and Dove's car), Dove, and Grogan. The bullet, fired by Orrantia, penetrated Platt's right forearm, fractured the radius bone and exited the forearm. This wound caused Platt to drop his revolver. It is estimated that Platt was shot a fifth time shortly afterwards, this time by Risner. The bullet penetrated Platt's right upper arm, exited below the armpit and entered his torso, stopping below his shoulder blade. The wound was not serious.

Platt fired one round from his Ruger Mini-14 at Risner's and Orrantia's position, wounding Orrantia in the left shoulder with shrapnel created by the bullet's passage, and two rounds at McNeill. One round hit McNeill in the neck, causing him to collapse and leaving him paralyzed for several hours. Platt then apparently positioned the Mini-14 against his shoulder using his uninjured left hand.

Dove's 9 mm pistol was rendered inoperative after being hit by one of Platt's bullets. Hanlon fired at Platt and was shot in the hand while reloading. Grogan and Dove were kneeling alongside the driver's side of their car. Both were preoccupied with getting Dove's weapon working and did not detect that Platt was aggressively advancing upon them. Platt rounded the rear of their car and killed Grogan with a shot to the chest, shot Hanlon in the groin area, and then killed Dove with two shots to the head. Platt then entered Grogan and Dove's car in an apparent attempt to flee the scene. As he did so, Mireles, able to use only one arm, fired the first of five rounds from his shotgun, wounding Platt in both feet.

At an unknown time, Matix had regained consciousness and he joined Platt in the car, entering via the passenger door. Mireles fired four more rounds at Platt and Matix but hit neither. Around this time, Metro-Dade police officers Rick Frye, Leonard Figueroa and Martin Heckman arrived. Heckman covered McNeill's paralyzed body with his own, while Frye assisted Hanlon. None of the officers fired any shots despite arriving in the middle of the shootout.

Platt's actions at this moment in the fight have been debated. A civilian witness described Platt leaving the car, walking almost 20 feet and firing at Mireles three times at close range. Mireles does not remember this happening, and neither does Heckman, Risner, and Orrantia, who were observing from the other side of the street. However, it is known for certain that Platt pulled Matix's Dan Wesson revolver at some point and fired three rounds.

Platt attempted to start Grogan and Dove's car. Mireles drew his .357 Magnum revolver, moved parallel to the street and then directly toward Platt and Matix. Mireles fired six rounds at the suspects, fatally wounding them both and ending the gunfight. The first round missed, hitting the back of the front seat. The second hit the driver's side window post and fragmented, with one small piece hitting Platt in the scalp. The third hit Matix in the face, and fragmented in two, with neither piece causing a serious wound. The fourth hit Matix in the face next to his right eye socket, traveled downward through the facial bones into the neck, where it entered the spinal column and severed the spinal cord. The fifth hit Matix in the face, penetrated the jawbone and neck and came to rest by the spinal column. Mireles reached the driver's side door, extended his revolver through the window, and fired his sixth shot at Platt. The bullet penetrated Platt's chest and bruised the spinal cord.

The shootout involved ten people: two suspects and eight FBI agents. Of the ten, only one, Special Agent Manauzzi, did not fire any shots (his firearm was thrown from the car in the initial collision), and only one, Special Agent Risner, was able to emerge from the battle without a wound. The incident lasted under five minutes and approximately 145 shots were exchanged. Toxicology tests showed that the abilities of Platt and Matix to fight through multiple traumatic gunshot wounds and continue to battle and attempt to escape were not achieved through any chemical means. Both of their bodies were drug-free at the time of their deaths.

Weaponry and wounds

Agents

Killed

* Benjamin Grogan: Smith & Wesson Model 459 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, nine rounds fired. Killed by a .223 gunshot wound to the chest.
* Jerry Dove: Smith & Wesson Model 459 9mm semi-automatic pistol, 20+ rounds fired. Killed by two .223 gunshot wounds to the head.

Wounded

* Richard Manauzzi: lost control of weapon in the initial vehicle collision, no shots fired. Minor wounds from shotgun pellets.
* Gordon McNeill: Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357 Magnum revolver (not FBI issue, but personally owned .357's and .38's could be approved for carry by supervisors, same applies with Mireles's Smith & Wesson Model 686), six rounds .38 Special +P fired. Seriously wounded by .223 gunshot wounds to the right hand and neck.
* Edmundo Mireles: Remington 870 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, five rounds of 00 buckshot fired; .357 Magnum revolver; Smith & Wesson Model 686, six rounds .38 Special +P fired. Seriously wounded by .223 gunshot wounds to the left forearm and head.
* Gilbert Orrantia: Smith & Wesson (model unknown, likely a Smith & Wesson Model 13, as it was an issued weapon at the time) .357 Magnum revolver, 12 rounds .38 Special +P fired. Wounded by shrapnel and debris produced by a .223 bullet near miss.
* John Hanlon: Smith & Wesson Model 36 .38 Special revolver, five rounds .38 Special +P fired. Seriously wounded by .223 gunshot wounds to the right hand and groin.

Uninjured

* Ronald Risner: Smith & Wesson Model 459 9 mm pistol, 14 rounds fired, Smith & Wesson Model 60 .38 Special revolver, one round .38 Special +P fired.

Perpetrators

*William Matix: Smith & Wesson Model 3000 12-gauge pump shotgun, one round of #6 shot fired. Killed after being shot six times.
*Michael Platt: Ruger Mini-14 .223 Remington semi-automatic rifle, at least 42 rounds fired, Smith & Wesson Model 586 .357 Magnum revolver, three rounds fired, Dan Wesson .357 Magnum revolver, three rounds fired. Killed after being shot 12 times.

Aftermath

A subsequent FBI investigation placed partial blame for the agents' deaths on the lack of stopping power exhibited by their service handguns. While some agents were equipped with 9 mm semi-automatic pistols, most had revolvers, which made up the majority of the weapons used in the fight. The FBI soon began a search for a more powerful cartridge to issue to all agents. Noting the difficulties of reloading a revolver while under fire, the FBI specified that agents should be armed with box magazine-fed semi-automatic pistols. This incident contributed to the increasing trend for law enforcement agencies to switch from revolvers to semi-automatics across the United States.

In the aftermath, the FBI collaborated with Smith & Wesson to develop the S&W Model 1076 chambered for the 10 mm Auto round. There is a persistent myth that the 10mm's sharp recoil proved too much for most agents to control effectively, and a special reduced velocity loading was developed; commonly referred to as the "10 mm Lite" or "10 mm FBI". However the FBI developed its reduced velocity 10mm cartridge before the 1076 pistol was developed to fire it. No agents were ever issued full power 10mm ammo because the reduced velocity ammo was developed before the FBI selected the 10mm cartridge. Soon afterwards Smith & Wesson developed a shorter cased cartridge based on the 10 mm, the .40 S&W.

Other issues were brought up in the aftermath of the shooting. Despite being on the lookout for two violent felons who were known to use firearms during their crimes, only two of the FBI vehicles contained shotguns (in addition to Mireles, McNeill had a shotgun in his car, but was unable to reach it before or during the shootout), and none of the agents were armed with a rifle. Only two of the agents were wearing ballistic vests, and the armor they were wearing was standard light body armor, designed to protect against handgun rounds, not the .223 Remington rounds fired by Platt's Mini-14 rifle. The other six agents involved in the stakeout in six vehicles had additional weaponry including Remington shotguns, Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, and M16 rifles, but did not reach the shootout in time to participate.

Ronald Risner died on June 14, 2002, and Gordon McNeill died on January 1, 2004.

Lawsuit

After the shootout, the families of agents Jerry Dove and Benjamin Grogan sued the estates of Platt and Matix under the RICO statute for damages. The lawsuit was dismissed because the families did not allege the "kind of recovery that RICO was designed to afford."

Memorial

In 2001, the Village of Pinecrest, Florida, which incorporated in 1996, honored the two fallen agents by co-designating a portion of Southwest 82nd Avenue as Agent Benjamin Grogan Avenue and Agent Jerry Dove Avenue. Street signs and a historical marker commemorate the naming of the roadway in Grogan and Dove's honor.

Dove, a West Virginia native, had Jerry Dove Drive named after him in Clarksburg, West Virginia, where the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division is located. He earned degrees from both West Virginia University and Marshall University.

In 2014, the FBI Miami field office moved to its new home in Miramar, Florida, dedicating the two towers of the new office space in memory of Dove and Grogan in a ceremony in April 2015. The first floor contains a memorial to Dove and Grogan. Every year on April 11, the FBI Miami office holds a fallen agent ceremony in honor of Dove, Grogan, and all FBI agents killed in the line of duty.

Media adaptations

* In 1988, NBC produced the made-for-television movie '' In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders'' depicting the circumstances leading up to and including the shootout, one of several films in the ''In the Line of Duty'' series produced during the 1980s and 1990s. Michael Gross portrayed William Matix and David Soul portrayed Michael Platt. Ronny Cox portrayed Ben Grogan, and Jerry Dove was portrayed by Bruce Greenwood.
* An episode of the short-lived TV series '' FBI: The Untold Stories'' featured a portrayal of the shootout.
* The event is the subject of an episode of the Discovery Channel's series '' The FBI Files'' sub-titled "Firefight", originally aired: March 2000.
* In 2012, Investigation Discovery aired an episode of ''Real Vice Miami'' that recounts the shootout in detail. Rey Hernandez portrayed William Matix and Nestor Lao portrayed Michael Platt. Robb Erwin portrayed Ben Grogan and Jerry Dove was portrayed by Alexis Aguilar. The program includes first-person commentary by retired FBI Special Agents Gil Orrantia and John Hanlon, who both survived the gunfight.

See also

* Newhall incident
* North Hollywood shootout
* Norco shootout
* 2021 Sunrise, Florida shootout
* The Battle of Barrington
* List of serial killers in the United States

Notes

References

External links

Shootout Scene from In the Line of Duty

FBI Wall of Honor


*



Agents Dove and Grogan Avenue, Pinecrest, FL

FBI inquiry into the incident

''Real Vice Miami: The Bloodiest Day''

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