Two years after a Lake County sheriff’s deputy was killed and two others were wounded in an ambush-style attack, residents of the Brookside Drive neighborhood say the violence remains a painful part of their daily lives.
Community Comes Together
MD Bradley Link died Aug. 3, 2024, after deputies responded to a home on Brookside Drive the night before. Investigators say Julie Sulpizio, her husband and his adult daughters set a trap for deputies, opening fire when law enforcement officers entered the home.
DFC Stefano Gargano and MD Harold Howell were injured. Sulpizio, the only surviving family member accused in the attack, faces charges including murder and attempted murder.
Neighbor Michael Diedeker said the events of that night still feel recent. “It still feels like it’s only been a couple months,” Diedeker said. “Honestly, it feels really real to us here.”
The damaged home remains in the neighborhood, serving as a constant reminder of the violence, terror and tragedy. “Every day, we still have to look at the house and see it as a clear reminder,” Diedeker said.
He said residents continue to struggle with the fear and grief caused by the attack but have worked to support one another. “We’ve all been helping as a community, helping each other, so it’s been getting better as a community,” Diedeker said. “We’re probably stronger now than we were two years ago because of this incident.”
A Legacy Lives On
On the anniversary of Link’s death, his widow, Brittany Link, told WESH 2 that it was difficult to believe two years had passed. “That horrific night and phone call I experienced from his killers haunt me daily, but it hasn’t stolen the light that Brad left with me,” she said in a statement.
“Brad knew as a small child that he wanted to be in law enforcement. He always said, ‘This is what Jesus put me here to do.’ Evil didn’t win that day; it only added fuel to the fire in the hearts of law enforcement officers everywhere to continue to fight the good fight and brought our community together in ways I never could’ve imagined.”
“Brad died a valorous death. He completed what he was put here to do, and as his wife, I am inspired to do the same,” Brittany Link said. “Until I’m called to be with Him in glory, I will be his voice, his eyes and his heart, keeping his legacy alive and to remind people that there is still good in the world as long as it is in them … that life is not defined by loss but by how we use it as a catalyst to keep going.”
Original reporting: WESH Orlando — read the source article.
