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FBI
Honoring the Fallen
20 Years Since
Shooting Killed Two Agents, Police Sergeant
11/21/14
Two decades ago, on November 22, 1994, a lone gunman entered the
headquarters building of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in
Washington, D.C. and opened fire in a squad room, killing a police
sergeant and two FBI agents. For those close to the fallen, who
gathered today for a memorial service marking 20 years since the tragic
event, it’s as if it happened yesterday.
“Twenty years have passed, but our hearts are still heavy,” said former
FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, who headed the Bureau in 1994. “Our hearts
and memories still feel the pain of that day. It was a day that we will
never forget and will always honor.”
Special Agents Michael J. Miller and Martha Dixon-Martinez, of the
FBI’s Washington Field Office, and MPD Sgt. Joseph “Hank” Daly were
fatally wounded in the attack. Another FBI agent, John Kuchta, was
seriously wounded, and a 15-year-old bystander was injured. The
assailant, Benny Lee Lawson, was killed in the exchange of gunfire. The
25-year-old had been questioned as a suspect a week earlier in a triple
homicide investigation
Nearly 500 guests attended the memorial service this morning at St.
Patrick’s Church in Washington, D.C., where FBI Director James Comey,
Attorney General Eric Holder, and MPD Chief of Police Cathy L. Lanier
joined family members and former colleagues of the service martyrs to
reflect on their lives and contributions. Family members who spoke at
the memorial asked that their fallen siblings be celebrated for how
they lived.
Paul Dixon recalled a story about his sister, Martha, who threatened to
quit her elementary school when it wanted to move her into a
higher-level class. She didn’t want to leave her friends. Dixon said
the same was true when her fellow squad members were attacked 20 years
ago. She could have escaped, but stayed to help her colleagues.
“She was going to stay there and fight for her friends and defend them.
And that’s what she did. That’s an illustration of Martha’s character.
That’s the woman that was taken from us,” Dixon said. “So I would
encourage everybody here not to focus on the deaths of these people.
It’s not how they died that made them heroes, but it’s how they lived.”
Many recalled how dangerous the city was in 1994 and credited the work
of the Cold Case Squad—created in 1991 to solve moldering homicide
cases—with helping turn the city around.
“It’s incumbent upon us to remember that whatever we accomplish,
whatever we achieve, we achieve standing on their shoulders,” said Mike
Daly, brother of Sgt. Hank Daly.
The 1994 shooting was the sixth time in FBI history that two agents had
been killed at the same time as a direct result of adversarial
action—and the second time it happened in Washington, D.C. The inherent
dangers of law enforcement were a recurring theme.
“When the moment came, when danger threatened, they ultimately gave
what President Abraham Lincoln once called that last full measure of
devotion to their families, to their colleagues, and to their country,”
said Attorney General Holder.
The two-hour service was followed by a procession to the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial, where family members laid wreaths next
to the names of their loves ones etched in the marble walls.
“Let’s not dwell long on the anguish of that day,” said Tony Daniels,
who was in charge of the Washington Field Office in 1994. “Let’s
celebrate how they lived and how we can be proud of what they
accomplished. Let’s leave here today rededicating ourselves to what
they taught us and what they represent: honor, courage, commitment.”
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