VERO BEACH, Fla. (WCJB) \u2014 A Florida sheriff\u2019s deputy was killed while attempting to serve an eviction notice Friday in a beachside residence on the state\u2019s Atlantic coast, a county sheriff said.<\/p>\n
The accused shooter, another deputy and a locksmith working for law enforcement were all wounded, Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said at a news conference. The locksmith is in surgery and listed in critical condition, as is the shooter, Flowers said. The other deputy was hit in the shoulder and is recovering, he added.<\/p>\n
The 47-year-old deputy who died, Terri Mashkow, was a 25-year-veteran of the sheriff\u2019s office, Flowers said. He grew emotional while speaking about Mashkow, describing her as an \u201camazing deputy\u201d who he worked alongside his entire career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you that our team will feel this forever,\u201d Flowers said.<\/p>\n
The officers had gone to the house in the Bermuda Club neighborhood near Vero Beach, where a resident of the home was evicting her son, Flowers said. While officers were in the entryway, the son grabbed a firearm and began \u201cindiscriminately firing\u201d at the deputies, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n
Authorities identified the alleged shooter as Michael Halberstam, who investigators found had been terminated from his job at UPS and had a previous narcotics charge and a misdemeanor assault charge. Flowers said the suspect had been posting \u201csome negative items\u201d about the Indian River Sheriff\u2019s Office on a social media account.<\/p>\n
Over the past month, the sheriff\u2019s office had received seven calls from the home, \u201calmost all\u201d of which were from the mother calling about her son, Flowers said. Still, deputies weren\u2019t expecting any trouble when they arrived for the eviction Friday since \u201cthis was a standard call for service,\u201d the sheriff said.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately known whether Mashkow fired her weapon. \u201cOur deputies did fire at him and he has been struck multiple times,\u201d Flowers said.<\/p>\n
Investigators are still looking for more information on the suspect, Flowers said, but as of Friday there was nothing in his record to preclude him from legally having a firearm.<\/p>\n
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier acknowledged the shooting during an earlier news conference Friday, saying, \u201cJust wanted to take a couple moments of silence for the officers that were in the line of duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vero Beach is more than 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach.<\/p>\n