As a crowd gathered outside Real Life Christian Church stood beneath the blazing Saturday sun, the crack of a radio cut through a moment of silence. “Lake 2036,” a voice began referring to Lake County Master Deputy Bradley Link’s call sign, as it began the final transmission signing him off from duty. “May the sun shine upon his house.
May the wind always be at his back. May the Lord hold him in the palm of his hand, until we meet again,” it continued. “On Aug.
10, at 1251 hours, Lake 2036 is 10-7.” A giant flag hanging from a firetruck greeted the hundreds who attended Link’s celebration of life a week after he was killed responding to a suspected burglary of a Brookside Drive home in Eustis. During the ceremony, Sheriff Peyton Grinnell recounted Link’s actions the day of the shooting and posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor and Purple Heart.
“Master Deputy Link exemplified the highest ideals of duty, honor and sacrifice,” Grinnell said. “He faced danger without hesitation, stood firm in the face of adversity and selflessly placed the safety of others above his own.” Link, 28, responded to the scene on his way home from his shift.
He and other deputies were ambushed by the family living there. The family is alleged to have been waiting as Julie Ann Sulpizio, its matriarch, attempted to lure neighbors to the house to kill them, saying they were acting on God’s behalf. Though he was shot, Link shot back, laying suppressing gunfire to allow fellow deputies to escape.
Two other deputies, Harold Howell and Stefano Gargano, were shot in an effort to rescue Link as he was trapped in the home. Both survived, though Gargano, who was shot multiple times and has undergone several surgeries, remains hospitalized in stable condition. Cheyenne and Savannah Sulpizio — 22 and 23, respectively — were found dead inside the house along with their stepfather, 49-year-old Michael Sulpizio, after shooting themselves in the head.
Julie Ann Sulpizio, 48, faces murder and attempted murder charges. “Brad died doing what he loved to do,” Grinnell said. “He was a hero.
” Link, survived by his wife Brittany Link, long dreamed of being a cop. As a teen he was involved with the Sheriff’s Office Explorers Program and later served in the Army Reserves before becoming a deputy sheriff in Polk County in 2017. Two years later he joined the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as a master deputy.
Link’s coworkers — Deputies Stephanie Early, Matt Layman and Preston Leonard — remembered him as a kind and courageous man who thoroughly enjoyed his work. Early said Link was her field training officer before the two and their spouses became close friends. “He was a role model,” Early said.
“His ability to navigate life and treat others with kindness inspired people. “Personally, he made me want to change the way I live my life and motivated me to become the best person I aspire to be.” Layman, who said he and Link were jokingly referred to as “work wives,” remembered him as a kind man even when “we argued like a married couple at times.
” Leonard, who affectionately called Link “Baby Boy,” further referred to him as “truly fearless in all his endeavors.” “His love for being a law enforcement officer comes from his truly selfless desire to serve others,” Leonard said. Beyond the job, the three said Link was a man undeniably in love with his wife.
His family’s pastor, Justin Miller, recalled his first time meeting the couple — at first noticing his trademark mustache. “I know behind every massive mustache is a very tolerant woman, so I saw that and said, ‘Man, she must really love you to let you have a mustache that big,'” Miller said. “She just grabbed his arm and she says, ‘I do,’ and he just kind of glowed.
It was a beautiful moment.” Dressed in white, Brittany Link stood poised before the audience, thanking them and the community for their support. She described her husband as funny, gentle and sweet, calling him her teddy bear.
He was a lover of bright lights of all kinds, she said, and enjoyed peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches and going to Magic Kingdom. “He carried himself with a quiet confidence — slow to speak, slow to anger and quick to understand,” Brittany Link said of her husband and high school sweetheart, who she added was “truly a living, breathing angel.” A GoFundMe page created in Link’s honor has raised more than $155,000 for his family as of Saturday afternoon.
Brittany Link further called on the community to carry on the fallen deputy’s legacy of kindness and courage: “Have Bradley’s heart for the needy, the broken, the rejects and the lonely.” “I truly believe he’s still taking care of me from heaven by sending me all of you,” she said in closing..
