The FBI confirmed on Tuesday two of its agents were killed and three more wounded while serving a search warrant in a child abuse case in Sunrise, Florida.
“Two FBI agents are deceased and three are wounded. Two wounded agents were transported to hospital and are in stable condition. The names of the deceased will not be released at this time,” the FBI said in a statement.
Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson was briefed on the shooting and was closely monitoring the situation on Tuesday, a Justice Department spokesperson told The Associated Press news agency.
The shooting occurred at 06:00 EST (11:00 GMT) on Tuesday. The Miami Herald reported that local police said a man suspected of child pornography possession remained inside his residence at an apartment complex in the Miami suburb.
The suspect was killed, the FBI said in its statement.
“In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under investigation by the FBI’s Inspection Division,” the agency said. “The review process is thorough and objective and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances.”
As the case is under investigation, no further information will be released, the FBI said.
The FBI, the US federal law enforcement agency, rarely sees its agents killed by gunfire in the line of duty.
The agency’s most recent shooting victim was Special Agent Charles Leo Reed, “who died on March 22, 1996 from gunshot wounds received in connection with an undercover drug investigation”, the FBI says on its “Wall of Honor” page that commemorates fallen agents.
