We had a lengthy thread about the Miami Shootout earlier this year. Some good info in there.
We had a lengthy thread about the Miami Shootout earlier this year. Some good info in there.
"Sapiens dicit: 'Ignoscere divinum est, sed noli pretium plenum pro pizza sero allata solvere.'" - Michelangelo
Video is up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlSCE88UhyA It's good overview of the even though has a few errors.
[quot]Interesting that this news video didn't say anything about the other Agents on scene that took cover and weren't injured. One of these agents shot one of the bad guys in the heart, but he didn't die until later. That was the famous 9mm Silvertip that was instrumental in the FBI going to 10mm.[/QUOTE]
There was only one agent on-scene who wasn't wounded and that was Ron Risner. He was across the street, hunkered down behind the engine block, and unlike the video states, also wearing soft body armor.
Platt actually took two 9mms that were fairly ineffective. While everyone focuses on the round that passed through the arm and into the chest, Risner put a hit on Platt from 30+ yards away. The round was found stuck against the ribs after having passed through the tricep. It was an incredible shot but the complete lack of penetration meant it was just a flesh wound.
- It's not the odds, it's the stakes.
- If you aren't dry practicing every week, you're not serious.....
- "Tache-Psyche Effect - a polite way of saying 'You suck.' " - GG
The resurrection of this subject was fortuitous in timing. I'm "getting" to do some ammunition performance education for our administration at work. Joyous? Nope.
Excellent link to the other thread. Training issues aside, what would today's equivalent be to the ammunition used on that ill fated day? 115gr loads commonly found by various manufacturers?
Equivalent?
As in similarly limited or as in improved but functioning similarly?
I attended the FBI debrief on the incident about a year after it occurred. I also attended then Metro-Dade's officer survival instructor course in 1994. Ed Mireles was one of the trainers. While Ed wasn't on the range with us, we did spend some time on firing a shotgun one-handed.
Of course, Ed (a decent, humble guy) was subjected to a bunch of young hotshots asking why the agents did this or didn't do that. In response tone question which I don't remember, Ed gave the best take-away I've ever heard: "We never expected to find these guys." To me, that's the central truth of that dark day. Whenever you roll out, whenever you make a stop, whenever you respond to any call, expect to find those guys.
As I recall, resident agency cars had local police channels in their radios. The cars making the stop were assigned to the main field office and were not so equipped. I don't know if it is included in the available tapes, but I recall listening to the tape of a resident agent miles from the stop desperately trying to vector MDPD cars to the scene. Another learning point that we've somewhat taken to heart as a profession (with some major exceptions).
To Clarify:
Prior to their initiating the stop on Platt and Matix, the FBI had already contacted Miami-Dade and marked units were en route. The agents involved decided that they would not allow the bad guys to return to a more densely populated area. The only way to make this happen was to initiate the stop when they did. This meant that the uniforms were not on-scene yet. The uniform actually arrived mid-fight but were unable to engage anyone as they could not identify the agents or the bad guys.
Everyone forgets that this was not the first time this operation had been run. The FBI desperately wanted to stop these very bad men. They knew that they only hit banks on Friday mornings in a general area. The operation was a "Hail Mary" on very scant information because they had nothing else to go on. The fateful day in April was the THIRD time they had tried to find Platt and Matix.
- It's not the odds, it's the stakes.
- If you aren't dry practicing every week, you're not serious.....
- "Tache-Psyche Effect - a polite way of saying 'You suck.' " - GG