TAVARES, Fla.—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has released the names of the suspects who shot three deputies Friday night.
Michael Sulpizio, 49, Savannah Sulpizio, 23, and Cheyenne Sulpizio, 22, were all found dead by LCSO’s SWAT team after they made entry at the home where Deputy Bradley Link, 28, lay wounded after all three suspects opened fire on deputies Friday night, LCSO Lt. John Herrell said.
Deputies responded to a home on Brookside Drive in the Orlando Hills neighborhood in unincorporated Eustis, on a report that Julie Sulpizio, 48, attacked a resident at that home. Deputies took Julie into custody under a Baker Act and she asked deputies to perform a well-being check on her husband, Michael. The Sulpizios lived as a family unit and Cheyenne and Savannah were adopted by Michael, Herrell said. It is unclear if they were the biological daughters of Julie, or if she adopted them too, he said.
No one in the family appears to have a criminal history in Lake County and no photos were available at press time.
Link and Master Deputy Harold Howell went to the Sulpizio home at 38144 Brookside Drive and were ambushed by Michael, Savannah and Cheyenne. Evidence shows all three suspects shot at deputies, Herrell said. Inside Lake asked Herrell if LCSO believes the family set deputies up for the ambush.
“That’s part of the investigation,” he said.
Link was shot and became trapped in the home, and Howell was also shot but was able to back out of the home and escape the gunfire, LCSO Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said early Saturday morning.
Deputy Stefano Gargano was a part of a rescue team put in place to rescue Link and as the team attempted to extract him, they were met with a hail of gunfire and Gargano was shot multiple times.
LCSO’s SWAT Team later rescued Link and he succumbed to his injuries.
The SWAT Team found the family dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds. “That (triple-suicide) has not been confirmed, but that appears to be the case,” Herrell told Inside Lake, due to the location of the firearms.
The SWAT Team found a stockpile of weapons and ammunition, anti-government literature and brochures, MREs and non-perishable food items and appeared to be doomsday preppers, Herrell said.
Julie Sulpizio is still being held under a Baker Act and it is unknown at this time if she will face charges.
Deputies Gargano and Howell remain at HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford. Gargano is still in critical condition and scheduled for a third surgery Monday. Howell remains in stable condition and is recovering well from his physical injuries, Herrell said.
