McCarthy High School Siege of 2006

On May 17th 2006, a raid orchestrated by Miami Dade Police Department, Broward Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI took place. The raid was led by senior detectives of Miami Dade, Ricardo Tubbs and Sonny Crockett. Unexpectedly, law enforcement was met with heavy resistance from teachers and faculty armed with Colt M4A1 full auto assault rifles. Before the raid took place, all of the agencies and police departments took note on the tactics used during Operation Nimrod, since the Iranian Embassy had an almost identical architectural design to the campus. The teachers and faculty barricaded inside the school were laying down steady fire onto many officers and agents. Thankfully, they only received minor injuries because they took cover behind the law enforcement vehicles. When HRT and SWAT entered the building through the school’s skylights and north entrance, they swiftly took out those who were shooting and posing as a threat to students in the classroom who were held hostage by the teachers. One teacher of the school, Mr. Mark Saxton, rallied up 40 students and transported them to the school cafeteria in order to have more open space to avoid law enforcement. Lieutenant Vincent Hanna of the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) of Broward Sheriff’s Office flanked the building Saxton was held up in by moving in from the football field. Lt. Hanna, armed with a FN FNC, was able to acquire a clean line of sight and took the shot. All 15 teachers who participated in the siege were later confirmed dead. Students and officers were safe. The job was complete.