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FBI Miami Firefight
"FBI Miami Firefight" Five minutes that Changed the Bureau If you have a choice between living and dying, which would you choose? On April 11, 1986 in Miami, Florida, eight FBI agents and two murderous bank robbers engaged in five-minute gunfight. There were 150 shots fired during the incident. In the end, nine out of the ten participants were shot. The two bank robbers were dead, as well as two FBI agents. Five other agents were wounded including FBI Special Agent Ed Mireles who was shot twice. This event changed law enforcement training, equipment and tactics throughout the U.S. This incident is known as the “FBI Miami Firefight.” It is a monumental event that has been referred to as the OK Corral shooting of the 20th century and “Five Minutes that Changed the Bureau.” Read how Special Agent Ed Mireles improvised, adapted and overcame insurmountable obstacles to persevere and eventually end the gunfight by killing the two bank robbers. Ed Mireles was the last man standing! Ed Mireles discusses his thoughts and actions that ended the gunfight.
- GenresHistoryTrue Crime
Paperback
Published May 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 22, 2025
Though he’s way too damn modest to admit it, retired FBI Special Agent Ed Mireles is a true hero and living legend of the law enforcement community. Speaking myself as a former Federal law enforcement officer, I’m honored & privileged to have Ed as a personal friend (unlike with Pat and Walt, I have met Ed face-to-face several times); as the one saying goes, "We stand on the shoulders of giants.
I first learned about the 1986 FBI Miami Firefight, including the heroics of Ed Mireles and the tragic supreme sacrifices of his fellow Special Agents Jerry Dove and Ben Grogan, in the inaugural issue of Shooting Times Handgun Quarterly (HQ) Magazine back in the summer of 1990, just shy of my 15th birthday. Charles E. Petty (one of my fellow U.S. Air Force veterans) was the author of that article.
Many books, articles, documentaries, and filmic dramatizations of the Miami Firefight have been released, but there’s nothing quite like a firsthand account from someone who’s “Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt.” Ed not only gives the harrowingly gory details (both literally and figuratively) of the firefight itself, but the full history of the case (the bad guys were the vicious bank robbers Michael Platt and William Matix), the personal stories of his fellow agents, as well as his own personal backstory, from his early childhood in Alice, Texas, to his service in the U.S. Marine Corps during the latter years of the Vietnam War (Ed didn’t actually go to Vietnam, but he was proud to join me and my dear friend Kristina Olney of The Remembrance Society (TRS) for our tour of the Vietnam segment of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War), to the first few years of his FBI career.
The reader gains a detailed, blow-by-blow perspective of just how close Ed came to losing life & limb alike in the gunfight; the fact that he still has his life and his left arm in spite of that ordeal is nothing short of miraculous—his guardian angel was working overtime that day!
In spite of those tragic events, Ed’s wicked sense of humor is in full force throughout the book (that sense of humor also shines through in face-to-face conversations with the bloke.)
Meanwhile, as my way of paying tribute to the brave FBI Agents who took down Platt & Matix, I myself have purchased both a Smith & Wesson Model 459 9mm autopistol and an S&W Model 686 .357 Magnum (the stainless steel version of the blue steel Model 586 that Ed used to finally put the bad guys down for the count and that graces the cover of Ed & Liz’s book).
R.I.P. and God bless, Special Agents Jerry Dove, Ben Grogan, and Ron Risner, and Supervisory Special Agent Gordon McNeill. A hearty to salute to Ed and the other veterans of that firefight who are still with us today.
And a big thank you to Ed and his lovely wife & co-author Liz (a retired FBI Agent extraordinaire in her own right) for autographing my copy of this excellent book!
“FBI Miami Firefight: Five Minutes that Changed the Bureau” is available in Kindle format on Amazon, and in paperback both on Amazon and directly on the authors’ website.
I first learned about the 1986 FBI Miami Firefight, including the heroics of Ed Mireles and the tragic supreme sacrifices of his fellow Special Agents Jerry Dove and Ben Grogan, in the inaugural issue of Shooting Times Handgun Quarterly (HQ) Magazine back in the summer of 1990, just shy of my 15th birthday. Charles E. Petty (one of my fellow U.S. Air Force veterans) was the author of that article.
Many books, articles, documentaries, and filmic dramatizations of the Miami Firefight have been released, but there’s nothing quite like a firsthand account from someone who’s “Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt.” Ed not only gives the harrowingly gory details (both literally and figuratively) of the firefight itself, but the full history of the case (the bad guys were the vicious bank robbers Michael Platt and William Matix), the personal stories of his fellow agents, as well as his own personal backstory, from his early childhood in Alice, Texas, to his service in the U.S. Marine Corps during the latter years of the Vietnam War (Ed didn’t actually go to Vietnam, but he was proud to join me and my dear friend Kristina Olney of The Remembrance Society (TRS) for our tour of the Vietnam segment of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War), to the first few years of his FBI career.
The reader gains a detailed, blow-by-blow perspective of just how close Ed came to losing life & limb alike in the gunfight; the fact that he still has his life and his left arm in spite of that ordeal is nothing short of miraculous—his guardian angel was working overtime that day!
In spite of those tragic events, Ed’s wicked sense of humor is in full force throughout the book (that sense of humor also shines through in face-to-face conversations with the bloke.)
Meanwhile, as my way of paying tribute to the brave FBI Agents who took down Platt & Matix, I myself have purchased both a Smith & Wesson Model 459 9mm autopistol and an S&W Model 686 .357 Magnum (the stainless steel version of the blue steel Model 586 that Ed used to finally put the bad guys down for the count and that graces the cover of Ed & Liz’s book).
R.I.P. and God bless, Special Agents Jerry Dove, Ben Grogan, and Ron Risner, and Supervisory Special Agent Gordon McNeill. A hearty to salute to Ed and the other veterans of that firefight who are still with us today.
And a big thank you to Ed and his lovely wife & co-author Liz (a retired FBI Agent extraordinaire in her own right) for autographing my copy of this excellent book!
“FBI Miami Firefight: Five Minutes that Changed the Bureau” is available in Kindle format on Amazon, and in paperback both on Amazon and directly on the authors’ website.
May 5, 2024
I was a member of the Metro-Dade Robbery task force that investigated the armored car and bank robberies committed by Platt and Matix. The Saturday before the shootout, Ben Grogan, Jerry dove, and I, accompanied by a team of robbery detectives, conducted a surveillance at Square Lake on Tamiami Trail where Emilio Briel had been murdered and Jose Collazzo had been left for dead. We were hoping to locate the two target shooters described by Collazzo. We later learned that we had missed them by two hours. I often wonder what would have happened had we encountered the two demented and deranged killers that day at Square Lake.
I arrived at the scene of the Suniland shootout about an hour after it was over, and I was sickened to learn that Jerry and Ben were both dead. I have read numerous descriptions of what transpired that day but this book by Agent Mireles is by far the best. The narrative of what occurred is so well written it captures perfectly both the chaos and the incredible bravery displayed by the agents who were involved. Even though I was familiar with the sequence of events, Agent Mirales' narrative had my heart racing and my adrenaline pumping. His writing ability is extraordinary. We should never forget the enormous sacrifices made by all of the agents involved, as well as their phenomenal courage and valor. Every April 11th, for the past 38 years, I have said a prayer for all those touched by this terrible tragedy. As others have said in their reviews, this book is a must read for all police officers. Never forget April 11th!
I arrived at the scene of the Suniland shootout about an hour after it was over, and I was sickened to learn that Jerry and Ben were both dead. I have read numerous descriptions of what transpired that day but this book by Agent Mireles is by far the best. The narrative of what occurred is so well written it captures perfectly both the chaos and the incredible bravery displayed by the agents who were involved. Even though I was familiar with the sequence of events, Agent Mirales' narrative had my heart racing and my adrenaline pumping. His writing ability is extraordinary. We should never forget the enormous sacrifices made by all of the agents involved, as well as their phenomenal courage and valor. Every April 11th, for the past 38 years, I have said a prayer for all those touched by this terrible tragedy. As others have said in their reviews, this book is a must read for all police officers. Never forget April 11th!
February 28, 2024
Remarkable!
I was a young cop in LA when this shooting happened in Miami, and as the author states, this incident changed law enforcement for the better with regard to equipment and training. Every cop should read this book! It should be mandatory, in fact. My hat is off to the entire team that stood the line that day, and my sincerest condolences for Agents Grogan and Dove and all of their loved ones. Mr. Mireles, if you read these comments (most independent authors do), I want to sincerely thank you for your bravery and heroic efforts of staying in the fight and putting those two evil bastards down for good! God bless you, brother! 💙💙
I was a young cop in LA when this shooting happened in Miami, and as the author states, this incident changed law enforcement for the better with regard to equipment and training. Every cop should read this book! It should be mandatory, in fact. My hat is off to the entire team that stood the line that day, and my sincerest condolences for Agents Grogan and Dove and all of their loved ones. Mr. Mireles, if you read these comments (most independent authors do), I want to sincerely thank you for your bravery and heroic efforts of staying in the fight and putting those two evil bastards down for good! God bless you, brother! 💙💙
February 10, 2025
Super informative and captivating autobiography from the FBI agent responsible for putting an end to one of the most highly debated and groundbreaking firefights in law enforcement history. Super informative info on how this 5 minute standoff in Miami changed ballistic technology and procedure for the last 20 years and it also gives a great first person perspective of what it's like to be in a moment as traumatizing as it was. I was fully expecting a boring read up to the actual gunfight but I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire read.
August 3, 2024
Warning: This book is violent. If you can't handle violence and significant gore, don't read the book. But I'm assuming if you're reading (or considering reading) a book that is titled "FBI Miami Firefight" you know what you're getting into.
Anyway, onto the book.
This book is an invaluable look into one of the watershed events in law enforcement and the tactical community. This event for years was misunderstood as a cut and dry "the agents were outgunned because they were stuck with outdated tech while the bad guys had the latest and the greatest."
That, besides being a gross oversimplification, was simply not true.
Here is why:
There were 8 highly trained agents who essentially happened upon 2 bank robbers. We know now that the robbers had received significant training due to their military service. FBI agents receive significant training as well. 8 vs 2 is great odds.
If you are not a "gun person" I'll save you the trouble: none of the agents were armed with inadequate weaponry. All agents were armed with either .357 revolvers, 9mm pistols, or 12 gauge shotguns. None of these are ballistically inadequate.
The bad guys were armed with similar weaponry, and were outnumbered besides.
The way the shooting played out is told very well by Agent Morales. Read it for the tactical expertise and lessons taught therein.
But what if you don't carry a gun every day? What if you are not a armed civilian or LEO? Can you take anything from this book?
Yes.
This books does a very good job of telling you how the body and the mind deals with STRESS. And there is not better way to induce stress and to study its effects than by getting shot at.
Morales goes into great detail about "fight or flight" response. This is expanded upon in other sources, in "On Killing" Lt. Col. Grossman lists several responses: fight, flight, posture, or submit. When confronted with stress, your body responds in one of those four ways. This is true whether you work a desk job or are trying to catch armored car robbers in Miami. Learning how to deal with stress, so that you do not default to one of the three "bad" responses (with only a few exceptions, "fight" is what you should do, note that this does not always mean physically.)
Stress is a killer. A lot of people do not know how to deal with it. But you can learn.
Anyway, onto the book.
This book is an invaluable look into one of the watershed events in law enforcement and the tactical community. This event for years was misunderstood as a cut and dry "the agents were outgunned because they were stuck with outdated tech while the bad guys had the latest and the greatest."
That, besides being a gross oversimplification, was simply not true.
Here is why:
There were 8 highly trained agents who essentially happened upon 2 bank robbers. We know now that the robbers had received significant training due to their military service. FBI agents receive significant training as well. 8 vs 2 is great odds.
If you are not a "gun person" I'll save you the trouble: none of the agents were armed with inadequate weaponry. All agents were armed with either .357 revolvers, 9mm pistols, or 12 gauge shotguns. None of these are ballistically inadequate.
The bad guys were armed with similar weaponry, and were outnumbered besides.
The way the shooting played out is told very well by Agent Morales. Read it for the tactical expertise and lessons taught therein.
But what if you don't carry a gun every day? What if you are not a armed civilian or LEO? Can you take anything from this book?
Yes.
This books does a very good job of telling you how the body and the mind deals with STRESS. And there is not better way to induce stress and to study its effects than by getting shot at.
Morales goes into great detail about "fight or flight" response. This is expanded upon in other sources, in "On Killing" Lt. Col. Grossman lists several responses: fight, flight, posture, or submit. When confronted with stress, your body responds in one of those four ways. This is true whether you work a desk job or are trying to catch armored car robbers in Miami. Learning how to deal with stress, so that you do not default to one of the three "bad" responses (with only a few exceptions, "fight" is what you should do, note that this does not always mean physically.)
Stress is a killer. A lot of people do not know how to deal with it. But you can learn.
December 28, 2020
This was a well written account of the events that led to a ferocious shootout with two violent bank robbers.
April 20, 2021
Really interesting piece of law enforcement history. Being a retired police officer myself; I still learned a lot.
I remember discussing this incident, while in the police academy.
We were told the agents emptied the brass from their revolvers, into their pockets! Just like the FBI, taught them to do. No clue, if actually true.
This really was an incident, that changed the entire profession.
I remember discussing this incident, while in the police academy.
We were told the agents emptied the brass from their revolvers, into their pockets! Just like the FBI, taught them to do. No clue, if actually true.
This really was an incident, that changed the entire profession.
April 25, 2021
Overall it was an excellent book. Very well written. I only found two issues. The first, which the author couldn’t control, was the number of agents involved. It was hard to keep them straight. The other was when his wife would narrate a chapter. That was a bit confusing. But a fantastic read nonetheless.
March 25, 2024
invaluable
This brave, hard-edged writing should be must reading for anyone who wants to think seriously about real world tools, training, and tactics, as well as by those with the currently fashionable and jaundiced view of the LEO's who lay their lives on the line every time they come on their shift.
This brave, hard-edged writing should be must reading for anyone who wants to think seriously about real world tools, training, and tactics, as well as by those with the currently fashionable and jaundiced view of the LEO's who lay their lives on the line every time they come on their shift.
September 20, 2020
Very informative and heart felt.
This is a heart felt recount and also shows the real side of police work and how good men and women protect the public.
This is a heart felt recount and also shows the real side of police work and how good men and women protect the public.
March 12, 2021
Good Summary Of Events
Goes a little too much into personal lives for my interest and I wish there was more forensic discussion but on the whole a good book.
Goes a little too much into personal lives for my interest and I wish there was more forensic discussion but on the whole a good book.
December 24, 2022
Fascinating account of an actual firefight. Mr Miriles has done an excellent job to re create a terrible blood bath in Miami, FL
February 24, 2024
Whew!
A riveting and horrifying account of the events of April 11, 1986 from someone who was in the thick of it.
A riveting and horrifying account of the events of April 11, 1986 from someone who was in the thick of it.
June 25, 2022
Fantastic story!
Read this in one day. More cop adventure than you’ll ever want. Fabulous! Ed was and still is a hero.
Read this in one day. More cop adventure than you’ll ever want. Fabulous! Ed was and still is a hero.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews