South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
FBI pays tribute to agent slain in raid
Mother of two honored in ceremony at Hard Rock Stadium
FBI Special Agent Laura Ann Schwartzenberger was remembered as a tough, accomplished agent with a record of putting bad guys in prison as she was honored at Hard Rock Stadium on a rainy Saturday, four days after she was gunned down trying to serve a warrant in Sunrise to a man suspected of involvement in child exploitation. Killed with Schwartzenberger was Special Agent Daniel
Alfin. His memorial service will be Sunday afternoon, also at the stadium in Miami Gardens.
Schwartzenberger’s American flag-draped casket was wheeled onto the field as bagpipes played. Her family, including her two young boys, walked behind.
Father James Quinn, the chaplain for the FBI’s field office in Miami, called on God for strength. Even the heavens are crying, he told an estimated 1,000 mourners who came to pay tribute from throughout the country.
“They both got up last Tuesday morning and went to work,” he said. “There is always darkness that wants to take away the
light. Two innocent people became the victims of violence.”
He spoke of the agents and their tireless fight to protect children.
They both knew their lives — in this line of work — could be taken “any time, any day, any hour,” Quinn said. “These two people are American patriots.”
A sea of red and blue lights flashed on both undercover law enforcement cars and marked road patrol Sheriff cars outside the stadium in the lengthy procession. Those in attendance included Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, who called Schwartzenberger and Alfin “warriors” who were “two of the very best the FBI had to offer.”
Although Schwartzenberger had a job with high stress, she cared about nothing more than protecting children, Wray said. She was “like a mom” to the younger agents.
She was humble about her accomplishments. “There was always more children to save,” he said. “She was brave in pursuit of criminals.”
“She died as she lived — making a difference,” Wray said. “And keeping kids safe.”
Schwartzenberger, 43, was killed in Sunrise on Tuesday in a pre-dawn ambush after she and other agents arrived at David Lee Huber’s apartment with a search warrant related to violent crimes against children.
She and Alfin were among the five agents who were shot.
Huber ’s home was equipped with cameras and he used a high-powered weapon to fire a torrent of bullets through the door, hitting the agents who had lined up outside his apartment in the Water Terrace development.
Huber, 55, of Sunrise, worked as a systems engineer. He was a father of two, according to records associated with his divorce in 2016. He was a pilot and a former mortgage broker.
The shooting deaths of the agents in Sunrise was the deadliest violent incident for the bureau since 1986 and the first shooting death of an agent since 2008, according to the FBI Wall of Honor.
Two FBI agents were killed in South Florida in 1986 during a shootout with suspected bank robbers in Miami. The last shooting death of an agent was on Nov. 19, 2008, when Samuel S. Hicks was killed executing a federal arrest warrant near Pittsburgh.
After the attack, Huber shot himself. The details of the warrant to search Huber’s home have not been made public yet.
Born on July 29, 1977, Schwartzenberger grew up in Pueblo, Colo., in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. As someone with both grit and grace, Schwartzenberger was a competitive diver in high school. She studied criminology at Northeastern University near Boston and then got her master’s degree in international studies at University of Denver.
Schwartzenberger joined the FBI in 2005. Her first assignment was in Albuquerque, N.M. She transferred to Miami in 2010. A mother to two boys Gavin and Damon, Schwartzenberger eventually landed a spot on the violent crimes against children task force.
In 2016 she was named Federal Agent of the Year. In 2016 and in 2019 she was named Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the year.
Schwartzenberger, a Coral Springs resident, was assigned to the Miami Field Office Innocent Images National Initiative, which goes after people involved in the exploitation of children and “sextortion.”
Schwartzenberger was married for 16 years.
Friends created a gofundme page and by late Saturday afternoon more than $109,000 had been raised.
Her l ongtime friend Brenda Chavez was strained by emotion as she shared stories of their adventures. She called Schwartzenberger the biggest “badass” she knew.
The audience rose to their feet after three volleys from the 21-gun salute. As the gunfire cleared, the melodic strain of Taps filled the air. As the Color Guard folded the American flag from her coffin, the tunes of Amazing Grace wailed from the bagpipes.
Wray presented the flag to the family.
“Attention all units,” a voice said, summoning Schwartzenberger using her call sign. Then again. There was no answer.
The agent was now “10-7,” the voice announced, using the law enforcement code for ‘out of service.’
“We will take the watch from here. Godspeed, Special Agent Schwartzenberger.”
Then, a riderless horse crossed the field, a tradition to symbolize a warrior who would ride no more.
After t he 75-minute service, the casket was wheeled off the field.
Her family followed behind.