Jason Delgado
Flags will fly at half-staff over the weekend to honor the two FBI agents who were killed this week while serving a search warrant in South Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered.
The Governor’s order designates Saturday in honor of Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger and Sunday in honor of Special Agent Daniel Alfin.
To honor Schwartzenberger, the United States and State of Florida flags will fly half-staff at the Broward County Courthouse, Parkland City Hall and the State Capitol on Feb. 6.
“Special Agent Schwartzenberger joined the FBI in 2005,” the order said. “For seven years, she investigated crimes against children. As a passionate protector of the children of our state, she frequently spoke to children in Florida schools about online safety.”
Schwartzenberger was 43-years-old.
To honor Alfin, the United States and the State of Florida flags will fly half-staff at the Broward County Courthouse, Weston City Hall and the State Capitol on Feb. 7.
“In his twelve years of service in the FBI, Special Agent Alfin rescued many children from horrific circumstances,” the order says. “He led an investigation on one of the country’s largest child pornography operations that resulted in hundreds of arrests worldwide.”
Alfin was 36-years-old.
Alfin and Schwartzenberger died Tuesday during a shootout at a home in Sunrise. Three other FBI agents were wounded.
The warrant was related to crimes against children.
FBI agents hoped to seize devices belonging to the suspect, who later barricaded himself and opened fire on the agents.
The suspect died during the gunfight.
The confrontation marked one of the bloodiest days in FBI history, according to the FBI website.
Florida politicians, meanwhile, quickly reacted to the agents’ death.
There have been several other shootings throughout the FBI’s history in which two agents have died, according to the bureau’s Wall of Honor.
In South Florida, the infamous “Miami Shootout” in 1986 claimed the lives of Agents Ben Grogan and Jerry Dove in a gunbattle with two heavily armed robbery suspects who were also killed.
Five other FBI agents were wounded in that shooting, which led the bureau to upgrade the weapons that agents carry.
