Edmundo "Ed" Mireles, Jr. (born March 4, 1953) is a former special agent of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI), known for his part in the

1986 FBI Miami shootout The 1986 FBI Miami shootout occurred on April 11, 1986, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, U.S. (the specific area was incorporated as Pinecrest in 1996), when a small group of field agents for the FBI attempted to apprehend William Russell Matix an ...

. He was awarded the Medal of Valor (FBI Medal of Valor), and elected the Police Officer of the Year.

Life and early career

Edmundo Mireles was born in Alice and grew up in

Beeville, Texas Beeville is a city in Bee County, Texas, United States, with a population of 12,863 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bee County and home to the main campus of Coastal Bend College. The area around the city contains three prisons oper ...

. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1971 to 1973 and fought in two tours in

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, then graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

in January 1979, and joined the FBI in September of the same year. After an initial posting in the FBI in Washington, D.C., he was transferred in 1985 to Miami. He married fellow FBI agent Elizabeth "Liz" Mireles with whom he had a son.

Shootout

In late 1985 and early 1986 two armed men had robbed a series of banks, and killed a number of people near Florida. The FBI assembled a stakeout team searching for the car they were believed to be travelling in. On April 11, 1986, the two suspects were sighted and forced off the road. Immediately, fierce shooting broke out between the two suspects and the eight FBI agents. Within minutes, Special Agents Jerry Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed and five others were seriously injured. Edmundo Mireles was hit in his left arm, but fired back at them with a shotgun, hitting one of the perpetrators in the feet, and was himself wounded again. After the two had gotten into a police vehicle, Mireles stood up, went towards them and shot the two of them dead at short range with his personal .357 Magnum S&W Model 686 revolver. He collapsed shortly thereafter and was sent to the South Miami Hospital. His left arm remained impaired, but he returned to the service after a year of recovery and became an instructor at the FBI Academy in

Quantico, Virginia Quantico ( or ; formerly Potomac) is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC, bordered by the Potomac River to the east a ...

. Later, he returned to his former Miami office and also served in the

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, Field Office.

Discrimination suit

Along with more than half the agency's Hispanic staff, he was involved in a 1988 discrimination suit against the FBI.

Aftermath

Mireles and his wife continued their work with the FBI until their retirement in March 2004.

Awards

* On April 10, 1990, he was the first agent ever to be honored with the Medal of Valor (FBI Medal of Valor); he received the award from FBI Director

William S. Sessions William Steele Sessions (May 27, 1930June 12, 2020) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the Federal Bureau of Inv ...

. * On October 7, 1986, he was voted Police Officer of the Year by the

International Association of Chiefs of Police International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia (United States). It is the world's largest professional association for police The police are a constituted body of persons em ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mireles, Edmundo 1953 births People from Alice, Texas Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Living people Hispanic and Latino American people People from Beeville, Texas University of Maryland, College Park alumni United States Marines FBI Medal of Valor recipients