TAVARES, Fla. — A 48-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of premeditated murder in connection with the shooting of three Lake County Sheriff's deputies on Friday, Sheriff Peyton Grinnell announced Monday.

According to information from the Lake County Jail, Julie Ann Sulpizio faces 11 other charges, including seven counts of attempted murder, felony battery (strangulation), two counts of misdemeanor battery and a count of battery on a law enforcement officer.

At a news conference Monday, Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said Sulpizio is suspected of making a call for help under the guise of a wellbeing check in what he described as an "ambush." Master Sheriff's Deputies Bradley Link and Harold Howell responded to the call on Brookside Drive.

Authorities said the deputies separated a fight between two parties, and immediately after, a woman told them to check on a man making some noise in a house nearby. She used a lot of religious references to try to get them to go to the house, Grinnell said.

Link, Howell and Deputy First Class Stefano Gargano went to the home, saw a door kicked in, heard noise, and thought there was an active burglary happening, the sheriff's office said. Instead, they were met with heavy gunfire by a man and two women, authorities said.

According to Grinnell, Michael Sulpizio and the couple's two daughters, Cheyenne and Savannah, were allegedly lying in wait for the officers with more than a dozen firearms, including high-caliber rifles, pistols and shotguns. The deputies had no idea what waited for them inside, Grinnell said.

"Body-worn camera captures several frames of what appears to be a male and black sleeved shirt or body armor positioned with a rifle on the arm of a couch waiting to ambush deputies,” said Grinnell.

The sheriff says that in an interview, Julie Ann Sulpizio said she was trying to lure her neighbors into the home so that Michael Sulpizio could kill them.

“She was not successful because of our deputies,” said Grinnell.

Link was killed, and Gargano and Howell were both injured by gunfire.

The sheriff's office eventually had to tear down a wall in the house to find Link, Grinnell said. Michael Sulpizio and the bodies of the two women were found inside with what Grinnell said were apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Michael Sulpizio, the adoptive father of the other two, died soon afterward from his injuries, Grinnell said.

Gargano is listed in critical condition and underwent a third surgery over the weekend, the sheriff's office said.

Harold was struck in the arm and is expected to make a full recovery, the sheriff's office said.

"I want to particularly, personally, say thank you to all of my employees," Grinnell said. "I know you're hurting, but please know that you're loved and appreciated, and this community loves and appreciates you. And together we're gonna get through this." 

Earlier Monday, law enforcement officers from the area, including Link's Agriculture and Marine Unit, escorted Link's body in a processional from the Lake County medical examiner's office in Leesburg down U.S. Highway 27 to Becker Funeral Home on West Minneola Avenue in Clermont.

A funeral for Link will be held Saturday at Real Life Church in Clermont.