Robin L. Ahrens was a 33-year-old FBI Special Agent who died in Phoenix on October 5, 1985, after being shot by fellow agents during an arrest operation. The team was attempting to apprehend Kenneth Don Barrett, wanted for armed robbery, when a confrontation and struggle with Barrett occurred outside an apartment complex. In a dimly lit passageway between buildings two agents — Douglas Harada and Thomas Fernandez — saw an armed individual approaching, opened fire, and fatally wounded Ahrens after mistaking her for an armed associate of the fugitive.

An internal FBI inquiry found the agents who fired had displayed faulty and atrocious judgment and were in a state of near panic. Harada and Fernandez later resigned; other agents at the scene faced disciplinary action. Barrett was taken into custody, but the operation was overshadowed by the fatal friendly fire loss of a career federal agent.

Does anyone have additional details about the operation or remembers reporting from Phoenix at the time?