Florida sheriff gives update on shooting of Lake County deputies

EUSTIS, Fla. – A Lake County Sheriff’s deputy has died after he was shot and became trapped inside a home while responding to a disturbance call Friday night in Eustis, Florida. Two other deputies were also shot while attempting to rescue that deputy, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

“They were ambushed,” said Sheriff Peyton C. Grinnell. “We lost one tonight.”

Two people inside the home were found dead, he said, although it was not immediately clear if they were killed in a murder-suicide or killed by the responding deputies. A third person inside the home was transported to the hospital. That person’s condition was not immediately known.

According to Sheriff Grinnell, deputies responded to a disturbance call in the vicinity around 8 pm and were alerted to a nearby home where they found the back door kicked in and heard a disturbance inside the residence on Brookside Drive. Upon entering the home, deputies were met with heavy gunfire, the sheriff said. One deputy was struck and trapped inside the home.