A sheriff’s deputy in Indian River County, Fla., was shot and killed as the authorities were serving an eviction notice on Friday morning, the county sheriff’s office said.
Another officer, a locksmith and the suspect were also shot in the incident.
The deputy who was killed was identified as Terri Mashkow, 47, a 25-year veteran of the department.
Three deputies and the locksmith were attempting to evict the suspect, Michael Halberstam, from his mother’s home in the Bermuda Club, Somerset Bay, a gated community north of Vero Beach, Sheriff Eric Flowers said at a news conference.
The sheriff said the episode began as a standard eviction call. Upon entering the home, Mr. Halberstam began “indiscriminately firing,” Sheriff Flowers said. The deputies returned fire.
The sheriff said it was the department’s only second line-of-duty fatality in 100 years.
The second deputy was shot in the shoulder, and the locksmith was in critical condition, Sheriff Flowers said. The suspect, who was shot multiple times, was in surgery in critical condition.
Deputy Mashkow started as a dispatcher and worked in patrol for 20 years, Sheriff Flowers said.
Mr. Halberstam’s mother was evicting him and had called the authorities multiple times this month, the police said.
The suspect, who had been fired from UPS, was “not someone who was on our radar,” the sheriff said. He had, however, been making negative comments about law enforcement on social media, the sheriff said.
“An eviction is a very tense moment,” Sheriff Flowers said. “On occasion you encounter someone in distress. It is not a situation in which you would expect an individual to start shooting indiscriminately.”
No one else was inside the house at the time of the shooting, he said.
“It’s been an awful day,” the sheriff said.
“I’m absolutely heartbroken,” he said. “Terri was an amazing deputy.”
Victor Mather, who has been a reporter and editor at The Times for 25 years, covers sports and breaking news.
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