Inset: Julie Sulpizio (Lake County Sheriff). Background: The Sulpizio home where a deputy was killed (WKMG/YouTube).
A Florida sheriff said a woman lured his deputies to her home where her husband and two adult children were lying in wait with a stockpile of guns and ammunition before opening fire when they entered, fatally shooting one cop in the back and injuring two others.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is mourning the death of Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link, 28, as deputies Harold Howell, 41, and Stefano Gargano, 28, recover from their injuries.
Sheriff Peyton Grinnell told reporters at a press conference it all started around 7:45 p.m. Friday when deputies received a call about a woman who was trespassing and assaulting people at a home in the 3800 block of Brookside Drive, about 40 miles northwest of Orlando. When deputies arrived they encountered a woman later identified as 48-year-old Julie Sulpizio who allegedly claimed she was “Helen under God’s will” and made several other religious statements.
Grinnell said Sulpizio “convinced” deputies to go to her home down the street to check on her husband and two adult children. Cops arrested Sulpizio while other deputies went to her home.
When cops got there, they tried to contact the three people to no avail despite hearing movement inside. There were also two small dogs dead in the front yard, according to Grinnell. Deputies then saw an open window with the screen kicked out, raising suspicion that there may be a home invasion or burglary, Grinnell said. After about an hour of trying to get ahold of the people inside, Link, Howell and other deputies entered the home. When Link walked through a laundry room and into a hallway, his body camera captures a man apparently wearing a black shirt and body armor holding a rifle on the arm of a couch “waiting to ambush deputies,” according to Grinnell.
However, Link did not see the man, believed to be Sulpizio’s husband Michael Sulpizio, and turned the other way, Grinnell described. A hail of gunfire erupted. Link was struck in the back multiple times, Grinnell said. A bullet hit Howell in the wrist. Michael Sulpizio continued to shoot at Link as he tried unsuccessfully to crawl to safety, Grinnell stated. Someone else inside the home allegedly began firing at deputies outside.
As deputies tried to negotiate with the suspects to rescue Link, the suspects allegedly refused.
“My king will kill all of you,” a woman inside the home allegedly yelled. “You are Lucifer’s children.”
As the SWAT team entered the home with a ballistic shield to get Link, it was met with another volley of bullets, Grinnell said. Gargano was shot through a wall multiple times with a high caliber weapon. Deputies retrieved Gargano and removed him from the home under heavy gunfire.
“Heroes,” Grinnell said of the rescuers.
Gargano remains in critical condition at the hospital.
After one of the suspects mentioned suicide, cops heard two gunshots followed by a third. The SWAT team reportedly used a battering ram to knock down the front wall of the home. Deputies removed Link from the home and paramedics airlifted him to the hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
Cops found two women — 23-year-old Savannah Sulpizio and 22-year-old Cheyenne Sulpizio — dead on the couch from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Officials also found Michael Sulpizio suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Inside the home there were reportedly more than 20 firearms ranging from pistols to shotguns to high-caliber rifles, along with ammunition, that were “gathered, placed and staged in the living room,” according to Grinnell. There was also gas masks, body armor, medical bags and MREs, Grinnell said.
“Throughout the residence anti-government propaganda was observed, along with conspiracy-theory media,” Grinnell said.
During her interview with detectives, Julie Sulpizio reportedly claimed to be God and said that God speaks through her. She allegedly stated that she was trying to lure the neighbors to her home so that her husband could kill them.
“They were not successful because of our deputies,” Grinnell stated.
On Monday, prosecutors charged her with first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, seven counts of attempted murder, felony battery/strangulation, two counts of battery and battery on a law enforcement officer.
Lake County State Attorney Bill Gladson said the state may seek the death penalty against her.
“This was nothing short of an ambush,” he said. “The evidence will show that. It’s absolutely indescribable.”
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