INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — The Indian River County community is mourning the loss of Deputy Terri Sweeting-Mashkow, a 25-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who was killed in the line of duty Friday while serving an eviction notice north of Vero Beach.
Authorities say Sweeting-Mashkow and two fellow deputies were attempting to serve an eviction on Michael Halberstam at a home on Governor’s Way in the Bermuda Club/Somerset Bay community when Halberstam opened fire.
Sheriff Eric Flowers said the suspect grabbed a weapon and began to indiscriminately fire at our deputies on scene.
Deputy Florentino Arizpe, also a 25-year veteran, was shot in the shoulder and retreated to the garage. He is recovering at a local hospital.
Their sergeant was unharmed, but both the locksmith assisting deputies and the suspect were critically injured. Neighbors say the tragedy has shaken the tight-knit community. “It’s just sad to hear about this right before Thanksgiving and the holidays … that’s a major loss for the city and for those families,” Christopher DeLine told us. Sheriff Flowers says that Halberstam does have a criminal history in Virgina and was recently fired.
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