1 deputy shot dead, 2 suffering gunshot wounds in ambush

Three Lake County Sheriff's deputies were shot, one fatally, while they were responding to a report of disturbance in a Florida home.

The sheriff's office named the deputy who was shot and killed as Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link, 28. Another deputy was struck in the shoulder and is now in stable condition. The third deputy was struck in the armpit, the groin and the stomach area multiple times, has undergone surgery and is in serious critical condition, Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said during a press conference.

Deputies responded to a call about a disturbance that was in progress and while they were conducting their investigation, they learned there was an issue at a home a few houses down from where they were, Grinnell said.

The deputies then responded there and saw what appeared to be the back door kicked in and they heard a disturbance inside the house. When the deputies entered the home, there was "a lot of gunfire" and one of the deputies was struck, Grinnell said.

The backup deputy with him was able to retreat out of the home but the first deputy was trapped inside the home in Eustis, Florida.

Multiple deputies responded to the scene and formed a "rescue team" to go back into the house and attempt to get the deputy inside the home and they were met with a "hail of gunfire" and another deputy sheriff was struck, but they were able to retreat from the house, Grinnell said.

"It was a very violent scene," Grinnell said.

"They were ambushed," he said.

Law enforcement then mobilized the SWAT team as they were dealing with "a lot of firepower," Grinnell said.

Of the people inside the home, two are dead and one was transported and their condition is unknown, according to Grinnell. They found multiple firearms in the home. There is no longer a threat to the public, according to Grinnell.

Link, the deputy who was killed, had been hired by the sheriff's office in 2019, the office said. He had previous been an Army reservist and then a deputy sheriff in Polk County, the office said.

Link "died in the line of duty overnight heroically serving his community," the office said.

The office added, "Prayers for Master Deputy Link's wife, Brittany, and his parents, Christi and Daniel, as well as for our agency and the community he so faithfully served are greatly appreciated during this time of tremendous loss."

ABC News' Matt Foster and Alexandra Faul contributed to this report.