On April 11, 1986, a shootout occurred between field agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two armed men in what is now Pinecrest, Miami-Dade County, Florida. The two men, former U.S. Army servicemen Michael Lee Platt and William Russell Matix, were suspected of committing a series of robberies and violent crimes, including a murder, in and around the Miami metropolitan area.

Although the FBI agents had partially surrounded the suspects after maneuvering them off a local road, they quickly found that the suspects were using more lethal weapons than theirs. During the ensuing shootout, Platt in particular was able to repeatedly return fire despite sustaining multiple hits.

The suspects shot and killed two special agents—Benjamin Grogan and Jerry Dove—and injured five other agents by gunfire. The shootout ended when the FBI agents killed both Platt and Matix as they were attempting to flee the scene.

The incident is infamous as one of the most violent episodes in the history of the FBI and is often studied in law enforcement training. The scale of the shootout led to the adoption by the FBI and many local police departments of more effective handguns; they primarily switched from revolvers to semi-automatics.<!-- Cited below in the aftermath section -->

Miami Bank Robberies

Perpetrators

Michael Lee Platt (February 3, 1954 – April 11, 1986) and William Russell Matix (June 25, 1951 – April 11, 1986) met in the early 1970s while serving in the United States Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Platt enlisted in the Army on June 27, 1972, as an infantryman. While in basic training, Platt applied for Army Airborne Ranger Training and subsequently entered the United States Army Air Assault School at Fort Campbell, upon completion of which he was assigned to the Military Police Unit. It was in this unit that he met and served with Matix. Matix's wife, Patricia Mary ( Buchanich) Matix, and a female co-worker, Joyce McFadden, both cancer researchers, were stabbed to death on December 30, 1983, at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Their bodies were found in the hospital laboratory; the women had been bound and gagged before the killer/s stabbed them multiple times in the chest and neck. He subsequently collected a $350,000 life insurance policy and later filed a $3 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Riverside Methodist Hospital.

According to the pastor of the Riverside Baptist Church, where Matix regularly attended services, Matix had attempted to date a number of women in the congregation. The pastor said that he used the church "the same way some people would use a singles bar."

On December 21, 1984, Platt's wife, Regina, was found dead from a single shotgun blast to the mouth. Her death was ruled a suicide. Platt reportedly told investigators that he suspected Matix had carried on an affair with his wife.

Several weeks later, Platt married again, to his second wife, Brenda Horne. The family subsequently moved to a luxury housing development. The shootout with FBI agents took place not far from there. At the time of the shootout, Platt's second wife, Brenda, claimed to have had no idea that her husband and his friend were armed robbers. Almost all of their robberies occurred on or near the South Dixie Highway (U.S. Route 1) in the southern Miami metropolitan area.

The following are the crimes that have been largely attributed to the two men:

  • On October 4, 1985, Platt and Matix murdered 25-year-old Emilio Briel while he was target shooting at a rock pit in the Florida Everglades. The pair stole Briel's car, a gold 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and used it to commit several robberies. Briel's remains were found in March 1986 but not identified until May.
  • On October 9, 1985, five days after killing Briel, Platt and Matix attempted to rob a Loomis armored van outside of a Steak and Ale restaurant in the 9000 block of Southwest 97th Avenue. They stole a duffel bag containing $2,825 from a courier who was walking back to the armored van, but were unable to break into the van. The driver sped away before the robbers could steal the more than $400,000 inside.
  • On October 16, 1985, Platt and Matix attempted to rob a Wells Fargo armored van that was servicing a Winn-Dixie supermarket at 7930 Southwest 104th Street. After ordering courier Jose Sanchez to freeze, one of the men wounded him in the leg with a shotgun; the other fired a rifle and possibly a handgun from the getaway vehicle. Two other guards returned fire, but neither Platt nor Matix was wounded. No money was taken in the botched robbery. Sanchez survived the shooting to make a full recovery.
  • On October 17, 1985, Platt and Matix attempted to rob a Loomis armored van outside of a Dalts American Grill restaurant at 11641 Southwest 88th Street. The courier — the same one involved in the October 9 robbery — saw the two robbers as he was returning to the armored van, drew his revolver, and opened fire. The robbers did not shoot and immediately fled the scene.
  • On November 8, 1985, two robberies occurred within 90 minutes of each other. The first robbery happened at a Florida National Bank branch at 14801 South Dixie Highway, where Platt and Matix stole a bag containing $10,000 from a bank teller. A police officer briefly tailed them as they left the bank and managed to get the license plate number of the getaway vehicle. The second robbery happened at the Professional Savings Bank at 13100 South Dixie Highway, where the robbers stole $41,469 in three Wells Fargo money bags that had been delivered that morning.
  • On March 12, 1986, Platt and Matix robbed and shot 30-year-old Jose Collazo as he was target shooting at a rock pit in the Florida Everglades, in an almost identical manner to Briel's killing. Collazo was shot not far from where Briel was killed. According to Collazo, who survived the shooting, the two men arrived in a white Ford F-150 pickup truck and held him at gunpoint, taking the keys to Collazo's black 1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo before shooting him three times in the back, arm, and head. Collazo played dead as the gunmen drove away in the F-150 and Monte Carlo; he walked three miles to get help. Prior to ramming the Monte Carlo, Manauzzi had pulled out his service revolver and put it on the seat in anticipation of a shootout, Around this time, Risner and Orrantia arrived and began providing covering fire for the other agents.

Platt took cover by the passenger side front fender of the Cutlass. After shooting a .357 Magnum revolver at Risner and Orrantia, he was wounded a fourth time when turning to fire at Hanlon, Dove, and Grogan. Orrantia's bullet penetrated Platt's right forearm, fractured the radius bone, and exited the forearm. This wound caused Platt to drop his revolver.