A Florida woman is accused of luring officers to her home, where her husband and two adult children ambushed deputies as they entered the home, killing one and injuring two others, all in the name of God.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office announced the death of Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link, 28, and confirmed deputies Harold Howell, 41, and Stefano Gargano, 28, are recovering from injuries sustained in the incident.
Sherif Peyton Grinnell told reporters at a press conference on Friday that the deputies had received a call about a woman trespassing and assaulting people at a home in the 3800 block of Brookside Drive.
The woman, identified as Julie Sulpizio, 48, claims she was "Helen under God's will" and made several other religious statements to detectives during the investigation.
Grinnell said Sulpizio allegedly convinced deputies to go and check on her husband and two adult children.
Law enforcement arrested Sulpizio while the other three officers made their way to the home.
Upon arriving, the deputies tried to make contact with the occupants; however, they received no response despite hearing movement inside the home.
They noticed two dead dogs lying in the front yard and an open window with the screen kicked out, leading them to believe it may be a home invasion.
After nearly an hour of trying to get a hold of the people inside, Link, Howell, and other deputies entered the home.
Link walked through a laundry room and into a hallway, where his body camera captured a man wearing a black shirt and body armor holding a rifle on the arm of a couch "waiting to ambush deputies," according to Grinnell.
Rounds of gunfire shot out and struck Link in the back multiple times, while a bullet hit Howell in the wrist.
Julie's husband, Michael Sulpizio, continued to shoot at Link as he tried to crawl to safety when someone else in the home began shooting at deputies outside.
Attempts to negotiate with the suspects to rescue Link were unsuccessful.
"My king will kill all of you," a woman inside the home yelled, according to the Miami Herald.
"You are Lucifer's children."
The SWAT team arrived on scene and entered the home with a ballistic shield to save Link, but they were also met with a barrage of bullets.
Gargano was shot through a wall several times with a high-caliber weapon and is in critical condition.
"Heroes," Grinnell said of the rescuers.
When officers heard the suspects mention suicide followed by three gunshots, they found 23-year-old Savannah Sulpizio and 22-year-old Cheyenne Sulpizio deceased on the couch from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Michael Sulpizo suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was rushed to the hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
"Throughout the residence, anti-government propaganda was observed, along with conspiracy-theory media," Grinnell told reporters.
During her interview with detectives, Julie Sulpizio claimed to be God and said that God speaks through her.
She 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," the sheriff added.
Prosecutors charged Sulpizio 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.
The state may seek the death penalty against her, said Bill Gladson, Lake County State Attorney.
"This was nothing short of an ambush," Gladson stated.
"The evidence will show that. It's absolutely indescribable."
