EUSTIS, Fla. – Three deputies were shot, one of whom was killed while investigating an incident in the Eustis area of Lake County Friday night.
The shooting happened in the area of County Road 439, near Brookside Drive, north of State Road 44. Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks tells News 6′s Justin Warmoth that the deputies were responding to a domestic violence incident.
Three deputies were shot and taken to area hospitals. One was sent to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares while the other two were taken to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford.
One of the deputies died from his injuries, according to Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell. The sheriff’s office on Saturday identified the deputy who died as Bradley Michael Link, 28, who is survived by his wife, Brittany, and his parents, Christi and Daniel.
It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that Lake County Sheriff Peyton C. Grinnell, on behalf of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, announces the passing of one of our own. Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link died in the line of duty overnight heroically serving his community and fellow deputies after responding to a disturbance call in the northeast portion of our county in rural Eustis, during which two other deputies were also shot.
Master Deputy Link, 28, first became part of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as a young Explorer. A graduate of Lake Minneola High School in (2015,) he served in the Army Reserves prior to being hired as a deputy sheriff by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in 2017. In October 2019, Master Deputy Link joined our agency as a deputy sheriff, where he quickly became part of our family and faithfully served our citizens with courage and zeal. Brad, as our Sheriff’s Office family knew him, touched the lives of all who were blessed enough to work with him; his contributions and the impact of this loss will not soon be forgotten.
Lake County Sheriff's Office Lt. John Herrell statement on passing of Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link (excerpt)
Another deputy, identified as 28-year-old Deputy First Class Stefano Gargano was shot in the abdomen area several times and under the arm. Sheriff’s office officials said Gargano underwent surgery overnight and was scheduled for a second surgery on Saturday afternoon. His condition was last listed as critical.
The third deputy was struck in the shoulder and is stable. He was identified as 41-year-old Master Deputy Sheriff Harold Howell who was hired at the sheriff’s office in 2005. Howell has served as a K9 deputy since 2011, officials said.
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Grinnell said the incident began at 8 p.m. when deputies responded to a call off Brookside Drive. While there, they were alerted to a problem at a home a few doors down.
Deputies went to that home, Grinnell said, and saw a door kicked in.
“When the deputies entered the home there was a lot of gunfire,” Grinnell said. “Where one of the deputies was struck. The backup deputy that was there with him was able to retreat out of the home. The first deputy was trapped inside of the home.”
Grinnell said more deputies responded and formed a rescue team to go back inside the home, where they faced more gunfire. They were able to retreat. The SWAT Team was mobilized.
Link was the deputy who was trapped in the home. The names of the other deputies have not been released. Grinnell said Link had been with the agency for some time.
“It’s just horrific when you have one of your own inside of a home and you can’t get to him,” Grinnell said.
Grinnell also said two people inside the home were deceased, and another person was transported to a hospital.
People in the community were told to stay in their homes and spent hours into the night not knowing what was happening.
Jim Ironhorse, who lives in the neighborhood, said it was a very rural area, on the southern edge of the Ocala National Forest. He said he heard unusual gunfire in the area around 8 or 9 p.m.
“We always hear gunfire out here but this was unusual, it was 9 mm followed by fully automatic weapons, and quite a few of them,” Ironhorse told News 6. “Then the cops started showing up and they were just all over the place.”
News 6′s Catherine Silver confirms the first call for help from deputies came in at 9:05 p.m. The first deputy was transported to the hospital in Sanford at 9:24 p.m., the second was transported at 9:35 p.m.
HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital is a level-two trauma center, which means there is a surgeon on staff 24/7, and it may have been the closest to the scene.
The third deputy was taken by ambulance to AdventHealth Waterman from the scene before midnight.
Ironhorse said he’d lived in the area for 25 years, and the last time he’d seen law enforcement respond to a situation like this in this area was when a Lake County deputy, Wayne Koester, was shot during a domestic violence call in 2005. Two other deputies were injured. The suspect in that shooting is serving life in prison.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident, which is standard procedure.
“I would just ask that you keep the men and women of this agency and law enforcement in general in your prayers,” Grinnell said. “They have a tough job and we lost one tonight.”
A GoFundMe has been set up for Master Deputy Link’s wife and family to help with funeral expenses. If you’d like to donate, it can be found here.
Sky 6 flew over the scene Saturday morning. Watch it again in the video player below or by clicking here.
Stay with News 6 for updates.