Members of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, or HRT, debrief after a training exercise at their headquarters in Quantico, Va. (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Two FBI agents who died while training off the Virginia Beach coast
fell to their deaths when a helicopter had trouble during a "maritime
counterterrorism exercise," an agency spokeswoman said Monday night.
Special Agents Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw were killed when
they fell into the water Friday. Both were members of the bureau's elite
hostage rescue team, a group known most recently for rescuing an
Alabama boy from a kidnapper in an underground bunker.
"The FBI agents were participating in a maritime counterterrorism
exercise involving helicopters and a ship," Special Agent Ann Todd, an
FBI spokeswoman, wrote in an email Monday night. "The agents were in the
process of fast-roping from the aircraft onto the ship when the
helicopter encountered difficulties. The agents tragically fell a
significant distance and suffered fatal injuries."
It will likely be weeks before a formal cause of death is determined
because the state medical examiner's regional office is waiting for
toxicology results.
The team is trained in military tactics and outfitted with
combat-style gear and weapons. Some of their preparation consists of
scuba diving, dropping quickly out of helicopters and battling in close
quarters.
"They're really the best of the best as far as civilians. Their only
counterpart would be something like Navy SEAL Team 6 or U.S. Army
Delta," said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI hostage negotiator who
deployed with the rescue team. "There is no other police or FBI SWAT
team that's their equal, because that's their full-time job. That's all
they do is train for highly critical terrorist, hostage and criminal
situations."
Dale Gauding, a spokesman for Sentara Healthcare, said the men were
brought to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in a helicopter, but he
declined to say what their conditions were upon arrival, deferring
questions to the FBI. The hospital is the area's only Level I Trauma
Center and burn trauma unit.
The Coast Guard said it was not involved, although it was notified
about 11:30 p.m. on Friday. The incident occurred about 12 miles from
the coastline.
The hostage rescue team is organized into tactical units made up of
assaulters and snipers who are supported by helicopter and intelligence
and communication teams, among others. Unlike FBI SWAT teams that train
several days a month, the hostage team preps full time.
They are headquartered at the FBI Academy in Quantico in northern
Virginia, although they train around the U.S. and can be deployed
quickly anywhere.
In 2011, two team members helped apprehend a Somali man who
prosecutors say is the highest-ranking pirate whom federal officials
have ever captured. Mohammad Saaili Shibin was the chief negotiator for a
group of pirates who took four Americans hostage aboard their yacht and
later killed them. Unlike the other pirates in the case, Shibin was
arrested in Somalia. In August, a federal judge sentenced Shibin to a
dozen life sentences.
Team members also responded to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa and have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Domestically, their resume includes rescuing nine hostages held at a
federal prison in Talladega, Ala. in 1991 by Cuban inmates who were
rioting to prevent their return to Cuba. In February, members of the
team rescued a 5-year-old boy from a small underground bunker where he
was being held hostage by a 65-year-old man. The kidnapper was killed by
agents.
The group was formed 30 years ago in preparation for the 1984
Olympics in Los Angeles. They have participated in hostage situations
more than 800 times in the U.S. and elsewhere since 1983. Fewer than 300
people have been chosen for the unit since its creation.
The FBI has sought out former special warfare operators to join its
ranks to meet the high demand for its services since Sept. 11. Still,
even former Navy SEALs and Army Rangers must serve for two years as
investigative special agents before they can try out to be on the team.
"These are not hit squads. These are not mercenaries. These are
people who come into the FBI first and foremost to be an FBI agent. They
have to have a college education, worldly experience, verbal skills,"
Van Zandt said. "They have to have everything we would see in a regular
FBI agent plus more."
Lorek, 41, and his wife and two daughters joined Three Chopt Church
of Christ in suburban Richmond about six years ago, minister Bob Odle
said.
"They are as solid as they come," Odle said. "They were here every time the doors were open."
Church members knew he had a high-risk job and was often out of town, but they didn't know exactly what he did.
Someone who answered the phone at the Lorek residence Monday said the family would not be making a statement.
Lorek graduated from Texas A&M University in 1993 with a degree in ocean engineering. He joined the FBI in 1996.
Shaw, 40, joined the FBI in 2005. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
The FBI will be holding a private memorial service for the agents Tuesday.