‘Violence is never a solution.’ Florida sheriff’s office mourns cop killed in murder-suicide
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is in mourning after a major loss.
On Wednesday, the agency posted a video of a motorcade procession for Deputy Abigail Bieber, 30, who was found shot and killed inside a St. Augustine vacation home last Saturday night.
Her body was escorted from St. Augustine home to Clearwater, and the public was invited to come out and pay respects.
According to the sheriff’s office, the case is being investigated as a murder-suicide. Also found dead in the home that day was Detective Daniel Leyden, who apparenly shot Bieber, his girlfriend, before turning the gun on himself.
The two had been reportedly heard arguing before the incident, according to fellow deputies who were also staying at the home.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reports of gunshots. Deputies found Bieber and Leyden dead.
“Deputy Abigail Bieber was an outstanding law enforcement officer, and by all accounts, an even better person who left a positive impact on every member of her squad and the countless members of our community who she encountered while on patrol,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. “This tragedy has left our Sheriff’s Office family grief-stricken. There is a void within our hearts that can never be filled, but I hope that Deputy Bieber’s legacy will be the way she lived her life, as a selfless servant.”
Comments flooded the posts about her service.
One FB user summed up many fellow mourners’ thoughts: “May the life she lived, although too short, be an inspiration to others. Thoughts for her family in blood and blue.”
Bieber, who had been with HCSO since February 2018, was working to become a detective in the Criminal Investigations Division Special Victims Section.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister urged others to seek assistance before a similar tragedy occurs.
“Violence is never a solution,” he said in a statement. “I urge any employee who is dealing with a crisis to take advantage of the many resources our agency has created over the past several years...Help is just a phone call away.”
In January, two deputies with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office took their own lives, leaving behind a 1-month-old boy.
“Law enforcement deal with not only the day-to-day stress we all face,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said at the time. “but also the stress of those whom they serve in our community, which can sometimes be very challenging.”
