Memorial Set for FBI Agent Who Coached, Taught at Marist

Thirty years ago today, on April 11, an FBI agent who formerly taught and coached wrestling in Brookhaven was shot and killed in a Miami shootout.

On Monday, the FBI will host a memorial ceremony in honor of Special Agent Benjamin P. Grogan in Brunswick, GA.

To honor Grogan's memory on the anniversary of his death, several FBI officials to include the Atlanta Division Special Agent in Charge as well as Chief U.S .Federal Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood and others will speak on Grogan's sacrifice and the events that day. Several family members of Grogan will also speak.

Grogan was born in Atlanta in 1933. A few years after earning degrees in Philosophy and Biology, he entered on duty with the FBI as a special agent in 1961. Before that, however, he taught and coached wrestling at Marist in Brookhaven.

Here's the FBI's account of the shooting:

"On April 11, 1986, Special Agents Jerry Dove and Benjamin P. Grogan were killed in southwest Miami, Florida, during a gun battle with robbery suspects William Russell Matix and Michael Platt. While agents were conducting a mobile surveillance in connection with a series of violent bank and armored car robberies, they observed a suspect vehicle. A high-speed chase ensued when the agents attempted to stop the vehicle. When agents in three FBI vehicles succeeded in stopping the suspect vehicle, suspects Matix and Platt emerged, firing their shoulder weapons. In the resultant gun battle, Special Agents Dove and Grogan were killed, and five other agents were injured. During the exchange, Matix and Platt made their way to an FBI vehicle. Special Agent Edmundo Mireles, Jr., had been seriously injured during the altercation, and his left arm was totally disabled. Overcoming his injury, Special Agent Mireles used his uninjured arm to fire rounds from his pump shotgun at the vehicle's driver and passenger compartment. When his shotgun rounds were exhausted, Special Agent Mireles managed to rise to his feet, draw his service revolver, and kill Matix and Platt."

Image: FBI