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The FBI Miami Firefight: Five minutes that changed Bureau.

PAGunGuy

PAGunGuy

Master Class
Firearms News jsut shared this 2 part article on Facebook yesterday. Looking closer it looks like it was written in Novemebr 2023. I searched here and didn't see any thread about it, so I figured I'd share.
It's in 2 parts. Fairly long read, but very interesting.

Firearms News is going to cover this incident in two articles — this first article will detail the gunfight itself including the weapons used by both sides, and the second article will chronicle the far-reaching influence this incident had on law enforcement, the firearms
industry, and ammunition manufacturers.
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Part 1 - https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/fbi-miami-firefight-part1/486108

Part 2 - https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/fbi-miami-firefight-part2/486087
 
10mmLife said:
Paul Harrell did an awesome video break down of the Miami Dade shootout.

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An excellent analysis of the FBI 1986 shooting.

I remember as I lived in Miami in those days of cocaine cowboys all over south Florida and many people carried firearms even to work or office.
I read in newspaper the 2 criminals autopsies stated the two criminals had loads of cocaine in their bodies.

The biggest take from Paul is lack of preparation, no vest mentioned, training, correct firepower with someone heavily armed shooting back as you ground pounders know from war and also bullet placement.
It sure does not look like any of the FBI firearms were at fault per say.
I like the comparison of Bonny & Clyde where LE had shotguns, Thompson and a BAR.

I do believe LE and their SWAT are extremely prepared with overwhelming firepower these days.
 
I also think it shows how bad revolvers are...but that's just my opinion LOL

A check of the numbers showed the agents on scene armed with semi-auto pistols fired an average 15 shots, and those with revolvers fired an average 6 shots, with only one agent successfully reloading his revolver (Gilbert Orrantia, 40–50 yards away from the criminals).


Five of those agents were armed with 15-shot 9mm semi-autos (S&W Model 459s to be specific), nine of them with revolvers. During the shootout, several of the FBI agents armed with revolvers struggled to get them reloaded. Gordon McNeill was shot in the right hand during the gunfight, and struggled to reload his revolver. After getting four rounds into the cylinder he tried to get back into the fight, only to discover he’d gotten so much blood (and bone fragments) into the cylinder of his revolver it wouldn’t close.
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Zero disrespect intended, but this was a prime example of why the FBI sucks at doing cop stuff. It was the tactics, not the gun - ever. And they KNEW who they were trying to arrest! Hindsight is always 20/20 but if I knew I was going up against two military trained bad guys with rifles I would bring a LOT more friends (especially friends that are better at do this sort of thing) and would have picked a better place to do it. Unfortunately it cost two Special Agents their lives because "We're the FBI - we don't ask for help":cry:
 
charliefox42 said:
Zero disrespect intended, but this was a prime example of why the FBI sucks at doing cop stuff. It was the tactics, not the gun - ever. And they KNEW who they were trying to arrest! Hindsight is always 20/20 but if I knew I was going up against two military trained bad guys with rifles I would bring a LOT more friends (especially friends that are better at do this sort of thing) and would have picked a better place to do it. Unfortunately it cost two Special Agents their lives because "We're the FBI - we don't ask for help":cry:
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You are absolutely correct. The truth us, the average patrol officer in a metro area will make more arrests and deal with more dangerous people in one year that the average FBI agent will encounter in a career. Except for special teams, they just don't get the street experience. The FBI changed their recruiting focus following this incident to hiring more police officers with experience. EmSeveral if my best officers were recruited by them. They get the best training in the world but there is no substitute for experience.
 
Lexie__M said:
An excellent analysis of the FBI 1986 shooting.

I remember as I lived in Miami in those days of cocaine cowboys all over south Florida and many people carried firearms even to work or office.
I read in newspaper the 2 criminals autopsies stated the two criminals had loads of cocaine in their bodies.

The biggest take from Paul is lack of preparation, no vest mentioned, training, correct firepower with someone heavily armed shooting back as you ground pounders know from war and also bullet placement.
It sure does not look like any of the FBI firearms were at fault per say.
I like the comparison of Bonny & Clyde where LE had shotguns, Thompson and a BAR.

I do believe LE and their SWAT are extremely prepared with overwhelming firepower these days.
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No, they were both completely sober, no drugs of any type in their systems.

Their injuries would have lead them both to bleeding out, if they hadn't been shot to death before.

Platt and Maddix had no prior criminal records or convictions of any type. Maddix was a suspect in his first wife's murder in Ohio, before he moved to Florida.
 
USMC6094 said:
Just recently read that same book.

I've been studying this incident for years.
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I was a SWAT commander in Florida when this happened. Attended many briefings and read much about it over the years. They had adequate weapons available but were inept at bringing them to bear. Planning was abysmal. It was a failure of FBI leadership from the outset. They were bitten by their own arrogance.
 
HayesGreener said:
I was a SWAT commander in Florida when this happened. Attended many briefings and read much about it over the years. They had adequate weapons available but were inept at bringing them to bear. Planning was abysmal. It was a failure of leadership from the outset. They were bitten by their own arrogance.
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Yep, outside of shotguns, every other agent with a long gun was en route to the call when it went down.
 
FBI 1986 shootout Firearms.jpg


USMC, I looked and looked but I could not find any autopsy report maybe you may know where to find?
 
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