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'Nothing Short Of An Ambush'

(Ed. Note:  Also See Timeline Of Friday's Fatal Shooting Event In Print Edition)

    The lone survivor of a family involved in a shooting on Friday, August 2, that led to the death of a Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy has been charged with first-degree murder.  Julie Sulpizio, who had generated the original call to the rural Eustis neighborhood where the shooting took place, is facing charges for her part in leading deputies to her home, where her husband and two daughters were allegedly waiting to kill. 
    Lake County Master Deputy Bradley Link was fatally shot in the family’s residence while attempting to conduct a well-body check during the incident, shot multiple times.  Two other deputies were injured, and all three of the family members inside the home died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
    Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell, during a press conference on Monday, provided a detailed description of the events of the evening (see sidebar).  Additionally, during the investigation, and interview with law enforcement, Julie Sulpizio reportedly claimed to be God, known as 'Helen', and that God 'speaks to her'.  She stated that her husband, Michael, is the Guardian Angel Michael, who obeys her.  She stated she was trying to lure the neighbors to her residence so that Michael could kill them. 
    “She was not successful, thanks to our deputies,” Grinnell said.
    Sulpizio is facing first-degree murder charges, as announced by State Attorney Bill Gladson on Monday.  Gladson said Sulpizio is facing a total of twelve counts, which will be forwarded to a grand jury.  On Monday, Sulpizio was in protective custody. 
    “We will do everything we can to bring justice to the victims and their families,” Gladson said. “This was nothing short of an ambush, and the evidence will show that.”
    Gladson described deputies as 'absolute heroes' for their work at the incident that included the fatal shooting of Link and the injuring of two other deputies. 
    Detective Josh Mercer on Monday said Sulpizio during interviews stated she had targeted the neighbors for killing as she can see a person’s soul as white or black and her job was to bring her husband dark souls to eliminate. 
    Mercer described Sulpizio, who had been removed from the scene for shots were fired as ‘joyful’ upon hearing about the outcome. 
    “There was no remorse,” Mercer said.
    Grinnell described his office as joyful, also, on Monday, as Sulpizio was handcuffed with Link’s handcuffs and transported to jail in his patrol vehicle.
    The incident began around 8 p.m. on Friday night, when deputies responded to a domestic call on Friday night outside of Eustis on Brookside Drive.  Upon arrival, deputies made contact with Sulpizio, who would be taken into custody under the Baker Act, but who also sent deputies to another home where there was believed to be another issue.  Upon arrival at that home, two deputies entered the home via a doorway that had been found open.  One officer, Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link, 28, suffered fatal gunshot wounds upon entering the home.  A second deputy, Master Deputy Sheriff Harold Howell, 41, was shot in the arm but was able to escape the home.  After additional officers arrived, an unsuccessful effort was made to enter the home to retrieve Link, and at that time Deputy First Class Stefano Gargano, 28, was shot numerous times.  After a larger SWAT response was undertaken, including the pushing in of a wall of the mobile home, Link’s body was retrieved, two women in the home were found dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, and their adoptive father, was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He later passed away at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
    On Monday, Howell was reported as remaining in stable condition and Gargano was upgraded to stable condition from critical after undergoing multiple surgeries.  Both are in HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford.
    The three people in the home were identified as  Michael Sulpizio, 49, Savannah Sulpizio, 23, and Cheyenne Sulpizio, 22.
    More details emerged Monday about the family, including a home bereft of television and other electronics that would have them connected to the outside world.  A variety of anti-government materials were found in the home.
    It was also revealed on Monday that the daughters had attended public school into middle school, but had been withdrawn so as not to be exposed 'to other beliefs', and that contact with the outside world was very limited. Authorities said the home had not been the scene of problems in the past other than animal complaints, and drugs were apparently not present in the home.
    A variety of financial support has been offered to the law enforcement victims of the shooting.  A GoFundMe account for Link had accrued just under $117,000.  Similar efforts for Howell and Gargano had accrued $12,000 and $47,000, respectively.