Three agents died in Miami because they were poor shots over 115 rounds fired and only a few hit there target.
The agents tactics were horrible, they were mentally unprepared to take on two known killers.
When going up against two well known robbers would had proven themselves to be every violent.
One does not fail to wear your armor one does not leave your rifles and sub-guns back at the station.
The main reason the FBI agents were shot up and killed is they suffered from a huge case of we are the FBI.
In the olden days they used to call that "Colonel Custer Syndrome".
:-)
The problem with carrying jingle bells in bear country it that they tend to scare off Mr. Elk.
Yup, their deaths were from poor decision making.
Jeff Cooper did an analysis of that fight (The Great Miami Shoot Out he called it) and of course blamed the 9mm ammo, in particular 147 grain 9mm Winchester Silver Tip hollow points, which I believe was standard FBI issue at the time. One of the bad guys soaked up several of those and was still in the fight.
The bad guys also had semi-auto rifles, against the FBI's handguns. Brings to mind the saying that the only good use for a handgun is to fight your way back to the rifle you should have had to begin with.
David Soul starred in a pretty good TV docudrama about that incident. It's a pretty decent movie and pretty true to the facts, as I recall, if you can find it.
No sir you are wrong. You should not make unsubstantiated and insulting declarations such as “they suffered from a huge case of ‘we are the FBI.’” You do not know such a thing! Platt and Matix had been going to the “rock pits” to befriend shooters target practicing, whom they would then murder and steal their guns. These cold-blooded predators desperately had to be stopped at whatever cost. And they WERE by these FBI heroes.
“A Matter Of Courage” by Mas Ayoob:
“Not until I interviewed John Hanlon in December 2010, did I learn Richard Manauzzi had risked his life ramming the Monte Carlo from behind because he saw Platt raising his rifle to shoot Hanlon and Mireles during the initial moments of the encounter. It was the impact that sent his revolver spinning out of reach, and it left him unable to shoot during the rest of the encounter. It saved the lives of two agents, including the one who ultimately ended the fight. That, in my opinion, is courage.
Hanlon, 48, ran across the street to fight and pitted a 5-shot .38 snub against a powerful, long-magazine, semi-auto rifle. Courage. McNeill did the same with a snubnose six-shooter: courage.
Dove and Grogan knew they had pistols against long guns when they engaged to protect the public: courage, which ultimately cost them their lives. Orrantia and Risner drove into the fight pitting their handguns against a rifle, both shooting the evil rifleman; Risner almost certainly firing the shot that smashed Platt’s gunhand and stopped the killing: courage. And Ed Mireles, shooting them 1-handed with his shotgun and finishing the evil bastards 1-handed with his revolver, his arm blown away, charging toward their guns — courage!
Only in 2010, did I learn from John Hanlon that while shots were still being fired, arriving Metro-Dade deputy Rick Frye ran through the live battlefield to assist Hanlon. Courage!”